


Welcome to Spikemuth

by luna_trancy



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Comfort, Frottage, M/M, Oral Sex, Piers has an unnamed ex and we hate him, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Rated E for later chapters, but make it outdoorsy, but not too much, do yall want sex tags now???, gratuitous tattoos, sex but in later chapters, there's some plot i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:55:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25479523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luna_trancy/pseuds/luna_trancy
Summary: As Marnie leaves for the Pokemon Gym Challenge, she makes Piers promise her one thing: make friends while she's gone, so he's not so damn lonely.  Coming down from a bad breakup, Piers can see why.So Piers decides to make good on his promise.And Raihan happens to fall right into his lap.
Relationships: Kibana | Raihan/Nezu | Piers
Comments: 49
Kudos: 259





	1. Wyndon

**Author's Note:**

> Imriel_Montreve has fueled my love for these two so go check out her stuff it's GREAT
> 
> Imriel also did this incredibly lovely art of Piers in my fic (with his tattoos). Give it a look (and give her a like and a follow!!)
> 
> Tumblr: https://displacedgalarian.tumblr.com/post/628998348460933120/a-little-something-for-emperor-porgatine-for-her?fbclid=IwAR1o40gJqJzcQhB9QcH0k57B4dYVI9B5_uP0dk6y646JLwSktoQ0vvi-MLs
> 
> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFAsoZOpjad/?igshid=1kp0q0ontprl5&fbclid=IwAR1o40gJqJzcQhB9QcH0k57B4dYVI9B5_uP0dk6y646JLwSktoQ0vvi-MLs

_Good evening everyone and thanks for tuning in. We are here live at the Budew Inn in Motosoke where the first of the promising trainers preparing to compete in the Gym Challenges have already checked in. Here with us now is Marnie, a trainer hailing from Spikemuth--_

Wyndon’s huge screen projections rang clear with the newscaster’s voice, turning the street to a dazzling light show. At least that’s what it felt like from the ground level of Rose Tower, while completely buzzed.

Raihan threw back the rest of his drink as lights danced in front of his eyes. It was the start of a new gym challenge season, and to properly kick it off, the Chairman was holding a big blow out for his gym leaders in honor of the sport. Free drinks, hors d’oeuvres and full suites reserved at the Rose of the Rondelands if needed.

And by that, everyone knew meant Leon because he never held his alcohol for more than ten minutes before swaying.

Raihan had lost count of his own drinks somewhere between four and Milo’s exciting story about a rolling herd of wooloo when he decided fresh air would do him some good. And while the city stunned with a jaw dropping view from the highest level of Rose Tower, he couldn’t resist the hyper energy of people on the ground.

He pulled out his rotom phone, to catch a quick pic of the electric view and paused with his finger above the capture button. 

Raised a brow.

“You know this is a non-smoking area, right?” Raihan called.

Piers looked away from the bright screen, flicked ash from his smoke and placed it back on his lips with a defiant snap of his wrist. He sat on a bench, squeezed between two armrests with his knees pulled up to his chest, bony arms draped over his legs.

“What? Gonna tell the Chairman on me?”

“You don’t think I’m that much of a square, do you?” Raihan grinned, shoved his phone into his pocket and walked over. For someone who hadn’t spent much time at the party, Piers looked exhausted. It could have been his natural expression, or the smeared eyeliner forming shadows under his eyes.

Piers eventually shrugged, watching the screens as he smoked. Thin trails of smoke mixed with the light, creating a veil of blue over Piers’s head.

The interviewer on the big telly went back to talking, pulled in another challenger, and Piers tossed his cigarette. Embers skittered across the ground.

“That’s your sister, right?” Raihan said, nodding towards the screens as the first challenger, Marnie, stepped away.

“Yeah.”

“She’s gotten pretty tall, it seems. You two look alike. Have the same sort of expression.”

Piers shrugged. Shook his head. Nodded. Made a noise. A load of silent gestures Raihan had no way to decipher because they all felt disconnected. 

Disconnected from each other, from the conversation.

“Sorry, mate,” Piers finally said, rubbing a hand against his neck. The metal piece on the choker dangled against his throat. “It’s just gonna be weird with her gone. I’m happy for her, sure, but home’s gonna be quiet.”

Raihan had a hard time believing their home could ever be quiet. Piers had loud pokemon and he sang. But the look of despair in those pale blue eyes, like Piers had been lost in a maze, made Raihan sympathetic. No amount of preparation is enough when someone is leaving home. Even for a gym leader.

“You should start joining us on our gym leader pub crawls.” Raihan said with a grin. He sat down on the bench in front of Piers, hands still in his pockets. Piers looked at him as if he had said something truly outrageous, then shrank back away with his bony shoulders to his ears.

“I’m no good at being social. Sorry, but I’m gonna pass, mate.”

Raihan shrugged. “Shame. It’s a lot easier going through these things with a friend than alone.”

He said it with no intention of malice but the look on Piers’s face made him reconsider. Piers leaned back against the arm of the bench, letting his feet press into Raihan’s leg. He raised a carefully sculpted brow.

The flashing lights from the screen projections and the ferris wheel struck Piers’s face, lighting him up like a neon poster in pink and blue and yellow. Raihan stared, a little transfixed by those heavy blue eyes.

A brooding rockstar highlighted in electric hues that contrast his dark lyrics. He wanted photos of Piers on his phone. Background and lockscreen. Plastered all over his social media like an art project waiting to be worshiped.

Untouchable by hands wanting to touch.

“Alright then,” Piers said. “Do somethin’ about it. Take me out.”

Raihan snorted. He’d known the Spikemuth gym leader for a few years now and always thought he was cute, in a very standoffish, cold shoulder, never-give-anyone-a-chance way. 

Alright, maybe Piers was more hot than just cute. But the idea of a date threw him right off.

Raihan slid back in his spot, nervously laughing so hard he thought for sure the other leaders would hear him on the top floor of Rose Tower. Eventually Raihan tilted his head to the side, light glinting off sharp teeth as he grinned. Piers stared back defiantly. Fire replacing the normal calm in his eyes that had been there a moment ago.

“Just like that?”

“You coulda just said no instead of laughin’ in my fuckin’ face.”

“It was just so bold!” Raihan said. And it was the truth. “If I’d known you were interested, I would’ve chased you a long time ago.”

Piers bristled, drew in his arms. That fire never died but his body language shouted retreat. Conflict brewed under that spiny exterior and Raihan had a real weakness for all things sharp and deadly.

Raihan raised a brow and leaned in closer, lowering his voice to a purr. “If you’re looking for a fast fuck, I can do that too.”

“Forget I said anything,” Piers snapped. He wrapped his arms around his knees, hid behind the wild fringe hanging over his flushed face. “This is stupid. It’s all so stupid.”

It was a bit too late for self pity. Raihan had an appetite and Piers had shown enough attitude for him to want a full taste.

“No, let’s do it,” Raihan said and Piers stopped his grumbling. “A date. Let’s say…Bob’s Your Uncle for lunch in Circhester? You like food, right?”

“I…I eat.”

Raihan grinned, caught Piers’s chin between two fingers and forced that blush to stay on Piers’s face. A pale rose all over his nose and cheeks, lips pretty and parted, begging to be kissed. Piers may have wanted to play a game, but Raihan could play it better.

And win.

“Then bring an appetite.”


	2. Hulbury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing quite like hot sausage in the snow, right?
> 
> Get your heads out of the gutters. I mean FOOD!  
> I genuinely don't know/can't remember what sort of food they sell at that place so I apologize in advance <3

_—The battle continues on here in Hulbury, as the first challenger of the season, Marnie from Spikemuth, attempts her victory over Nessa! She managed to take down goldeen and arrokuda, but how will she fair against Nessa’s dynamaxed dreadnaw!!_

Piers stood outside in the slow snow flurries, air cold on his fingers. He peered into a coffee shop, watching the gym challenge broadcast from a distance where he could see but away from the low chatter of people inside.

  
Shoulders hunched up to his ears, thumbs dug through the sleeves of his jacket and hair wrapped up in a messy ball on his head instead of a ponytail. He caught his reflect in the glass and occasionally stepped aside to lose the image.

  
The cigarette between his fingers burned to bent ash and he tossed it in a pile of snow, pulling out another.

  
He didn’t want to see himself and the dark circles under his eyes. He wanted to watch the match while he contemplated why he was doing this.

  
Sure, it had been his idea. A bad attempt at distracting himself from the current spiral of despair he sank in. Marnie leaving the house for her gym challenges. A nasty break up. Threat of his gym being relegated because it didn’t bring in enough revenue like the others even though he battled well.

  
He should have finished off the rest of the Appletun Whiskey in the fridge before heading out. A bit of golden liquid courage, enough to take the edge off as he waited for Raihan.

  
Raihan.

  
Galar’s top gym leader had a smile dazzling enough to charm those dragons and Piers had fallen right for it when he tried to back out. He didn’t want a pity date, although he could go for a pity fuck if it came from Raihan. He just hoped his hot date felt generous—

  
“Sorry I’m late! The corviknight taxis in Hammerlocke were swamped!”

  
Piers turned as Raihan approached. He suddenly felt very grungy in his beat up boots and the tattered edges of his jacket. Raihan wore slim pants, dark blue, with a fitted parka. Nice shoes, a nicer watch, his rotom phone buzzing all around and snapping photos.

  
He held up a hand as the phone got too close. “No pictures, please.”

  
“Camera shy?” Raihan grinned. He gestured to the unlit cigarette. “You know those are bad for you.”

  
Piers rolling his eyes and pocketed his smoke. “Can we just eat? I’m starving.”

  
They walked the short block to Bob’s Your Uncle in silence as still as the snow. He didn’t quite know how Raihan could have so much energy in this weather, still catching photos. Piers kept raising his hand in protest every time the rotom phone got too close. He wouldn’t burden Raihan with an unsightly candid photo.  
Once there, Raihan opened the door and they stepped into warmth and the scent of grilled sausage. Ice melted off Piers’s shoulders and the warm air made it possible to properly move his fingers again.

  
“This smells amazing,” Piers finally said. “I hope it’s as good as all the hype.”

  
Raihan stopped walking. Gasped. “You’ve never eaten here?”

  
Piers shook his head, recoiled a little at the slight outburst. He folded his arms defensively. “No.”

  
“You. Are in. For a treat,” Raihan replied with an excited grin. He grabbed Piers by the arm and dragged him along. Being twice his size, Piers had no real choice but to be dragged. Raihan had enough muscle under his parkas and hoodies to bench press any gym leader—and probably pokemon-he wanted.

  
They were opposites. Far opposites. Piers folded his arms once he was freed, tucked his shoulders up to his ears. Raihan bounced around the counter, scooping up a menu, excitedly going over what was good, what he’d liked the best, what Leon and Sonia liked, things he wanted to try, things he’d read about online and reviews and—

  
“Just order me something spicy and a drink,” Piers quipped, cutting him off. “I’m going to grab a table.”

  
He walked off and slumped into a booth by the window, so he could watch the snow and the telly. And not put Raihan through anymore suffering. He recognized his own personality wasn’t exactly sparkling.

  
At the very least, the battle still raged on. And Marnie was winning—

  
Raihan slipped into his view and placed two drinks on the table. A bit of a smile crossed his face.

  
“You’re welcome.”

  
“Thanks,” Piers said and took his drink. His eyes widened. “Ah, geez, I made you pay for my food! Fuck, I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinkin’, I—”

  
A man slammed his fist on the counter. Pointed to the telly. Cheered. Marnie won. Piers felt his brain rattle and just knew it showed on his face.

  
“It’s okay,” Raihan said and turned to look up at the screen. “You seem like you have a lot going on. Next time, you buy.”

  
“Next time, huh?” Piers laughed. “You’re not tired of me yet?”  
Raiahan stretched his arms behind his head as his rotom phone whirled about. He caught it, pressed a few buttons and sat it down on the table. Screen down. The phone cover matched the emblem on all his gym uniforms, red and blue, dragonic. “Not yet.”

  
 _Give it some time_ , Piers thought. Raihan only needed time to pick up on all the annoying habits, the clinginess, dry humor and cynicism, the whining. The list went on and dwelling on it only pushed the inevitable thought to the front of Piers’s mind.

  
Their food came with hot steam drifting into the air like old freight trains. Spoink sausage, red potato salad and sauerkraut. Piers’s eyed widened at the full feast before them.

  
“So what’s really going on with you?” Raihan asked. He took a bite, wiped his mouth and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. “So good.”

  
Piers carefully cut his sausage, thinking how he wanted to answer that question. He could keep it simple, just say he’s sad about Marnie leaving, that he was stupid last night and doesn’t really want to be bothered. End all this now. But…

  
He’d made a promise. And being out, with his mind almost off everything, felt nice. At least if he drifted to a bad thought he could shove sausage down his mouth. In the most non-sexual way in four months ever.

  
“We’re not close enough for you to unlock my tragic backstory, mate.”

  
Raihan snorted into his drink and his smile came back, dazzling white. He picked up his fork and pointed at Piers. “You’re really funny.”

  
“I…I guess.”

  
He never thought of himself as being funny but he smiled. Until Raihan used that fork to bridge the gap between their plates and steal a piece of sausage.  
“HEY!”

  
“I wanted to try it,” Raihan said, sticking his fork in his mouth. He cut a piece of schnitzel from his plate and sat it on the edge of Piers’s, right by the sauerkraut. “Here. A proper trade.”

  
Piers snatched his fork and stabbed the schnitzel. It was good. Really good. 

  
“I won’t bug you about it,” Raihan said. “But if you ever need to talk, I’m here. You have my number, right?”

  
“I…think? I don’t know. I don’t really save numbers in my phone.”

  
“That’s weird, mate.”

  
“Who’s going to call me?” Piers bitterly laughed. “I mean, I have Marnie and…” He swallowed. “Well, she’s the one who matters.”

  
A pause. Awkward. Fuck, he could ruin the mood at a wedding _and_ a funeral without trying.

  
But Raihan didn’t look entirely turned off from the conversation. He still sat there, shoving potatoes into his mouth with his chin in his hand. Intrigued and listening without interruption.

  
And without interruption, Piers kept talking.

  
“Last number I saved was some bloke from Kalos but he moved back and…we don’t talk.” He paused and slid back into his seat, until his legs bumped the table. Saying “don’t talk” made it sound like their break up was amicable; not the back alley dumpster fire at 2 a.m. that had been simmering for three months before exploding like it really was. “Marnie wants me to make friends while she’s gone. Said I should learn to be nicer. Whatever that means. So I…I’m tryin’.”

  
Those huge teal eyes bore into Piers as he explained his shit story. Raihan looked so intense. And it was intimidating as hell. There was no wonder he was the top gym leader with such a look, commanding dragons with quick words.

  
But then that look melted when Raihan raised his brows, just a hair. “And you chose me?”

  
“You seemed the friendliest out of everyone.”

  
“Ha, more than Milo?”

“Well, friendly, fun and interestin’,” Piers said. “Herdin’ wooloo for an hour ain’t my style.”

  
He would have went on had he not caught himself, just admitted right out that Raihan was also an attractive bastard but that was a little too forward for a first…whatever this was.

  
Again, Raihan laughed. Bit his lip. Then bit his straw before taking a drink. Sharp teeth grazed over his dark skin and Piers watched every move like his life depended on it.

  
A tight grip of anxiety tore at his chest suddenly. Raihan was only being nice because he had to be. He didn’t want to be here, not really. And as soon as Raihan got home to Hammerlocke, he’d forget this entire thing, brush Piers into the darkest corners of his memories and live his life. No one wanted Piers hanging on their arm. Clinging and cold and weird and erratic.

  
Piers took a breath. He believed it all. Every nasty thing his thoughts bombarded him with because it had happened before. Three months ago still felt like yesterday. And the months of dismissive neglect leading up to it felt just as fresh. 

  
It would all happen again because of course it fucking would.

  
“Do you want to get dessert?” Raihan asked. “I’m hella full but there’s an ice cream place walking distance from here.”

  
Piers swallowed. “I…I don’t…” 

Yes. Absolutely yes. But the words never found their way from his throat to his lips.

“We don’t have to,” Raihan quickly added. He didn’t even sound upset by it. “We’ll save it for next time.”

  
Piers allowed himself to smile. Even if it was weak. “Alright, then. Next time.”

~~

Next time. What the fuck even meant “next time”? Piers watched cold clouds go by as he rode in a flying taxi to Route 5, which he would then take home into Spikemuth.

  
He was as closed off as his home city and Raihan wanted a “next time”. And it was beyond Piers why anyone would ever—

  
 _Bing_!

  
Piers’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, expecting to see a text from Marnie, a picture with her new gym badge, or her at the hotel and a big victory meal. 

  
Instead he read the notification across the screen.

  
_Rai’s number. SAVE IT IN YOUR PHONE. Ttyl_

  
Trapinch emoji. Trapinch emoji. The letter T. Trapinch emoji.

  
Piers placed his phone face down on the seat. He fought a smile, an easy feat with all the practice he’d had, even if he sat alone in the carriage. He didn’t even want to feel the ounce of excitement because eventually he would be brought down from it. And the higher that feeling flew, the harder it would eventually crash and burn to ash.

  
A minute went by. Another. The silhouette of Spikemuth came into view over the horizon, breaking the sheet of ice and snow he’d stared at the entire ride.  
Anxiety itched in his bouncing leg and at his fingertips.

  
And he lifted his phone.

  
_Saved it_

  
And message sent. A pause.

  
He quickly typed into his phone and added a series of running zigzagoon emojis and hit send again. 

  
With another quick series of taps, he made good on his word and saved Raihan’s number in his phone. It would probably be good practice to save all of his colleague’s numbers, no matter how little he spoke with them. 

  
Another buzz and his notification flashed Raihan’s name, followed by several happy flygon emojis.

  
_Changed your name to zigzagoon in my phone JSYK_

  
Piers rolled his eyes. He’d save the other names later. Raihan was just asking for a game of text tag, and Piers planned to deliver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thanks all for reading and the comments!! It means a TON!


	3. Turrfield

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for tuning in again!! I realized I am incapable of committing to a full paragraph so here are a bunch of sentences.

_We are here live in Turrfield, moments away from the live broadcast of the gym challenge between Marnie, from Spikemuth, as she prepares to duke it out with Milo. Can she bring in another victory? Or will Milo send her rolling faster than a wooloo—_

Piers tried to listen in on the battle from the kids watching the it on their rotom phone. He’d use his own but he had a growing list of problems with it.

  
Stayed up all night on it, facetiming Marnie. Then stayed up longer texting Raihan, sharing dumb videos from Rotom-Tok until he could barely keep his eyes open.  
All while forgetting to plug in his fucking charger.

  
So he was sporting a whopping 24% charge and bumming off Raihan’s portable charger while they shopped.

  
Outside.

  
In Hulbury.

  
“They have the best open air market,” Raihan said. “And you can get great fresh berries from the stalls. It’s a lot easier to get them in bulk than to go out and pick them in the wild area. Especially when you need to meal prep for you and the whole team and the bench for the week. Although, the wild area is great to go train--”

  
 _“—and that was a close call for morpeko! Will she be able to pull through this battle? Gossifleur is throwing her off!_ ”

  
Piers blinked and his mind buzzed with static. Battle, Raihan, Marnie, Raihan. “I…I’m sorry, what?”

  
He knew he sounded as stupid as he probably looked. He didn’t want to be a total ass and completely block out Raiahn, but the vague sounds of the battle distracted him. Rattled his brain. An no one wanted to hang around someone with the attention span of a slowpoke. He rubbed his arm nervously.

  
Raihan smiled and pulled out his phone. Tapped a few buttons and the sounds of the battle were in his hand. “Here. I can stream it on mine. Finish watching it while I go haggle these roseli berries!”

  
The phone whirled around until Piers caught it between his fingers. He didn’t look immediately at the screen, however. Just at Raihan as he winked and turned to one of the berry stalls.

  
Piers flushed and turned away, trying to focus on the battle. Arms tucked into his sides, shoulders hunched and eyes down on the screen.

  
So maybe Marnie was right about trying to make friends. Although now he had some regrets about picking Raihan instead of Opal or Nessa or, hell, even Allister.   
Because Raihan made him blush and made his thoughts fuzzier than a wooloo in rain.

  
“ _And she has clenched yet another victory! Marnie from Spikemuth is on her way to her third gym challenge!_ ”

  
“She did it! That’s great!”

  
Piers spun around as Raihan leaned over his shoulder, watching the rest of the broadcast. He had that sharp grin on his face and three reusable bags filled with berries, all with his dragon gym print emblazoned on the fronts. Piers caught a full whiff of his cologne, too, and he could melt in that cool scent for hours if Raihan let him.

  
“She’s really nailin’ this gym challenge,” Piers beamed. He pushed his hair away from his face, trying to tuck loose pieces into the messy bun sitting on his head. He’d been in such a rush this morning, he didn’t even bother with a shower and his hair showed it. That and his two-day old eyeliner. “Umm, thanks. Here.”

  
He held out the phone from a safe distance. As if the dragon leader could potentially bite. Not that Piers would mind that at all.

  
 _Now is not the time for dirty thoughts, pull it together_ , Piers told himself. He tried to take his own advice.

  
Raihan sat down a bag, took his phone and after a few buttons, it whirred around at his side again. Whatever he did to train that rotom, it was impressive.

  
Of course, he also trained dragons and made it look good. Easy. Piers meant easy. Definitely easy. It became very clear he was going to lose every battle against his dirtier intrusive thoughts.

  
“So I guess we should—”

  
“Two pecha smoothies for…Raihan the Dragon?”

  
Raihan snapped his fingers. “One sec!”

  
He ran back to a stall, leaving his bags at Piers’s feet. Piers glanced around. Several people looked up when the name had been called. And several people were making the connection that there were gym leaders out in public.

  
Specifically Raihan. No one ever wanted an autograph from the dark leader in a city without a dynamax spot. But the number one gym leader, rival of the champion, with a personality as dazzling as his smile? People _loved_ him.

  
“Here,” Raihan said as he came back, holding out a drink. Pink and cream swirled in a plastic cup with fruit chopped up on top. “Nothing beats a fresh pecha smoothie, I promise you.”

  
“You really like your sweet snacks, huh?” Piers said and took the drink. He’d trusted Raihan on food, so this was a no brainer. The smoothie went down all creamy and delicious. Piers bit his lip and rolled his eyes as his body went loose. “That’s good shit, mate.”

  
Raihan stared at him, lips on his own straw, those brows raised to his braids.

  
“What?”

  
“You made a face.”

  
“I tend to do that. Because I have a face.”

  
Raihan laughed and Piers swear he saw a blush. “It wasn’t a bad face, just…expressive.”

  
Worry washed over Piers and before he could say anything more, Raihan pointed to an empty picnic table. “Let’s sit and take a break for a minute.”

  
With no reason to argue that, Piers followed though he worried what other trouble his facial expressions could cause. Whatever the fuck expressive meant he didn’t know and he’d probably dwell on it the rest of the day. He slipped onto the bench, sitting across from Raihan. Both bags were placed on the table and Piers couldn’t help but peek inside.

  
“So you really meal prep? For each of your dragons?”

  
“For every day of the week,” Raihan said. “I give them all a roseli-based diet, and then add in additional berries and proteins depending on what they like and what’s going to help them grow best.”

  
Piers put down his drink. “You really do all that? You’re not shittin’ me right now.”

  
“Well, there’s a reason I’m the toughest gym leader in Galar, right?” And he winked. Fuck, Raihan winked and Piers felt his stomach do a flip.

  
This was awful. They’d only seen in each other in person twice now. Piers didn’t count all their facetime calls and every text conversation and every shared pic. Sure, it kept him distracted but how long until Raihan got tired of sitting across a table staring into exhausted eyes?

  
Because right now, Raihan very much so stared into exhausted eyes and Piers didn’t really want to look away.

  
“Uh…Is this…” Piers shrank back and Raihan followed, wide eyed and waiting. “Are we dat—”

  
“Excuse me!”

  
Raihan broke away first, to look at the kid standing at the edge of their table, big hopeful eyes, a pen and cards in her hands.

  
“C-Can I have your autographs!” The kid shouted, probably too nervous to even notice she scream at them.

  
Piers watched Raihan push away his drink, take the pen and a card, all with a big smile.

  
But then the kid turned to Piers and offered him a card too.

  
It took him by surprise to see his face on the card because he barely remembered taking the picture.

  
“I watch all of you guys’ battles. You have the coolest pokemon but I totally think obstagoon could take flygon but not duraludon and—”

  
The kid kept talking about their pokemon and Raihan asked her more questions, all with that charming smile. She turned to sparkles and bright eyes and when Piers slid his signed card over, she held both to her chest like treasures.

  
“Thank you!” she shouted and ran off to waiting parents.

  
Piers couldn’t help but think a little of Marnie. She always had such wander on her face watching every gym challenge he had, asking questions and taking notes, wanting to participate herself.

  
“You’re smiling again,” Raihan said. “You have a nice smile.”

  
That was like getting hit with a volt switch.

  
Piers tried not to smile, to fight it down because he knew he could but it came back stronger. Angrier. A smile that forced its way out with a vengeance and a blush. So Piers placed a hand to his face as if he could hide.

  
“T-thanks, mate.”

  
Raihan slurped the rest of his smoothie until the hollow suck of air was the only thing left.

  
“Wanna get lunch with me tomorrow?”

  
That question still burned in the back of Piers’s mind. Looming and unsure.

  
“You pick the place. You’re good at that.”

  
He’d figure it out later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, thanks for reading/kudos/bookmarks/everything!


	4. Motosoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to heat up a bit in the Wild Area.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wholeheartedly believe that if Raihan were not checked, he'd have sex with his socks on. Same goes for Leon but that's a discussion for another day. Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk.
> 
> PS This is a long chapter.

_And she’s done it again!! Coming to you live from Motosoke, Marnie has officially completed the first three gym challenges, meaning she will be moving on to her next shortly. After that heated battle against Kabu, she is here now for this exclusive live—WHO are these Team Yell—Get them out of the shot—_

Raihan listened to the battle streaming on his rotom phone as he ran laps around the open field. Behind him at his feet ran trapinch, goomy and a stubborn turtonator. They were very slow cooldown laps for Raihan, with all encouraging words to his even slower pokemon.

  
“That’s it, guys!” he called back. “Keep it up!”

  
He’d always been invested in the gym challenges, seeing the trainers bring their absolute best, watching them fail, seeing them evolve and grow with their pokemon. A lot dropped out, but he had faith in Marnie that probably—most _definitely_ \--stemmed from hanging around her brother.

  
Ah, Piers.

  
They’d had their lunch together and it felt like a fairytale, even if Piers would zone out and give half answers and occasionally poke fun at everything. There was so much uncertainty behind those pale eyes and Raihan wanted Piers to open up to him.

  
He also desperately wanted to believe Piers would reciprocate his feelings.

  
Never once, in the history of history, had Raihan ever had trouble landing a date. And the moment he sealed his place as the top gym leader in Galar, that switched getting numbers onto easy mode. 

  
Of course that made a steady relationship impossible. The constant training and spotlight and the physical demand of battles had put a strain on any previous fling. Everyone wanted to date a gym leader but no one wanted to deal with the demands that came with.

  
But…

  
“Look at you trapinch!” Raihan called. Trapinch practically galloped at his side with fierce determination in those little eyes. “You’re keeping up nice, little buddy!”

  
But Piers _understood_ those demands. The late nights. The stress and anxiety. The constant pressure from fans and the chairman. All of it weighing down on a personal life that sometimes didn’t really exist.

  
Piers knew it all.

  
With a final heave, Raihan came to a slow stop, his hands on his knees. The wild area really took it out of him with its sloping hills and expanses of untamed land that stretched as far as he could see.

  
It was nice. Quiet. A perfect place to go to train and get away from the bustle of the city.

  
Raihan pulled out his phone, stopped the battle stream and checked his messages. Still no response. He’d sent his text to Piers hours ago and that message was the last one on the screen. It was a pic of himself, overlooking a particularly scenic spot with his campsite already set up.

  
**_Ditching the city life for a bit. Like the view?_ **

  
He thought it was cute. Maybe Piers didn’t give a shit about nature but…

  
Raihan made a face. 

  
He thought Piers would have at least responded to him being _shirtless_ in the pic. Maybe he’d been too hopeful, tagged them as boyfriends while they were really just friends.

  
Trapinch tapped his leg and he looked down as the others joined him. All his pokemon were a sweaty mess and goomy looked particularly parched. He scooped up the goopy dragon.

  
“Alright, I think it’s definitely time for dinner. Let’s head back.”

  
Back meant a quick walk to the campsite. He was staying for a night in the Wild Area. It wasn’t like any of the competing trainers were even qualified to take on the Hammerlocke gym challenge yet, so he had a little bit of time to himself before his gym was swarmed with hopeful trainers and cameracrews.

  
His dark blue tent faced the lake, guarded by his flygon and duraladon. Of course, guarding meant they were lounging around in the sun peeking over clouds.   
The other pokemon joined them, though goomy went straight for the sparkling lake. 

  
He’d wash up later. First dinner—

  
“AHHH FUCK!”

  
Raihan sat down his pack, snapped his fingers and flygon leapt to attention. That definitely hadn’t been a pokemon cry.

  
Someone had wandered out into the wild area, most likely unprepared.

  
“Watch the others,” Raihan called to duraludon as he ran off with flygon. His dragon soared low, enough so that Raihan could leap on its back.  
But he never had to. He found his screamer.

  
And the obstagoon tackling a machoke.

  
“Obstagoon, night slash!” Piers shouted. Obstagoon roared and obeyed. With a darkening paw, it swiped hard at the machoke. The wild pokemon staggered back, raised its hands, ready to keep fighting—

  
“Counter!”

  
Obstagoon tossed the machoke into the tall grass. It got back to its feet, long enough to roar and flee into the grass.

  
Raihan didn’t know exactly where to look or what to make of the situation. On one hand, the machoke could call reinforcements. Though it looked pretty beat up. Then there was Piers, sitting on the ground and massaging his ankle, cursing wildly, grass clinging to his hair.

  
“You’re here?” Raihan finally said.

  
Piers looked up at him, just as flygon landed on the ground in a whirl of dirt. Obstagoon growled as it grew closer, putting itself between flygon and Piers without a moment of hesitation. Raihan held up his hands.

  
“Psst! Stop that,” Piers hissed and waved his pokemon close. Obstagoon obeyed, but it kept cautious eyes on Raihan as it curled into Piers’s side. “Sorry if I ruined your trainin’. I just thought…I dunno…I’d surprise you.”

  
Raihan folded his arms, looked Piers over. He had swapped his skin tight jeans and t-shirt for joggers and a tank top, a jacket wrapped around his waist and a pair of actual sneakers, all scuffed and horrible on the foot arches, no doubt. He had visible tattoos; a band with a zigzagoon print over his upper arm, a corviknight’s outspread wings peeking over his chest up to his collarbones. His own pack sat on the ground, a tattered bag with neon stitching at the corners.

  
But he was here. Actually here in person. Raihan smiled.

  
“You’ve definitely surprised me,” he said. “How did you—”

  
“The pic you sent this morning,” Piers said, looking away to push a loose strand of hair away. His cheeks flushed a gentle pink. “I recognized the lake. So I…It’s dumb. Sorry. I shoulda asked.”

  
“It’s fucking brilliant,” Raihan laughed. “I couldn’t be more excited.”

  
“Oh, yeah? Well, hate to burst your bubble, but I think I fucked my ankle. Slipped on this fuckin’ rock—” And he slapped the rock nearest to him as useless revenge. “I don’t think I need to go to the hospital, but it hurts like hell.”

  
Raihan walked over, knelt at his side and got as close as he could without ever touching Piers. That was harder than any workout he’d done all day.  
“Are you sure? I can call a flying taxi.”

  
Piers’s eyes fluttered and he swallowed, his adam’s apple bobbing against the choker he wore. That definitely wasn’t typical Wild Area workout gear but Raihan couldn’t really complain. “I’ve had worse fallin’ off stage, mate. Now are you gonna to help me up or nah?”

  
Oh, Raihan liked those snarky edges to his words. He’d already started missing them out here alone.

  
After a little trouble, Raihan got Piers to his feet just to put him on flygon’s back. That swollen ankle would be awful if they needed to run off suddenly and thankfully, the campsite was only a few minutes away with the rest of his pokemon.

  
Once they were back, Raihan wrapped up Piers’s ankle first, which only took a moment, and then put their food on to cook. Sweet and spicy curry was a must when camping and within seconds, Raihan’s dragons and even obstagoon were circling the pot. Goomy took well to the dark brawler, hanging around obstagoon’s feet like both their lives depended on it. Obstagoon snorted at its new friend but didn't really push goomy away either.

  
As the food simmered, spiced aromas spreading around the camp, Raihan took the time to unload Piers’s pack, setting up the neon tent next to his own. He didn’t want to force Piers into sleeping with him in his tent but the thought of curling up together ignited his skin.

  
“I’m sorry you’re havin’ to do my part of the work,” Piers called, taking a long drag of his cigarette. “I mean it. I didn’t really plan on makin’ such a mess of things for ya.”

  
“I’m just happy you’re here,” Raihan said. “Weak ankles, or not.”

  
Piers leaned back on his hands, staring down at his foot. “My ankles ain’t weak, mate.”

  
“Sure thing,” Raihan said and walked back to his curry. He spooned a bit into his mouth and held up a thumb. “Damn that’s good! Dinner is ready.”

  
Food was served on collapsible plates. Every dragon had theirs served with fresh berries. Even obstagoon got the special treatment. When Raihan sat down next to Piers, a can of Driftveil Pale Ale sat open for him.

  
“It’s the least I can do,” Piers said, drinking his own. He’d ruffled through his bag and pulled out the loose cans. “Since I crashed your intensive trainin’ session.”

  
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Raihan pulled his rotom phone from its whirring place at his side, pressed a few buttons and leaned into Piers’s side. “Selfie?”

  
“Do I—”

  
“Yes, now smile big!”

  
Above the sky rumbled and turned dark as they ate. Raihan flipped through the pictures they took before the sky turned on them. Piers barely smiled but he definitely didn’t look unhappy in any of the photos. Raihan shared every good one online, captioned with “Wild Area with this Wild Man HAHA”, pokemojis of trapinch and zigzagoon, and hit share. Tagged Piers in it. He knew Piers would see it eventually and probably hate it but he couldn't help the giddy feelings of having Piers on his phone.

  
“It’s lookin’ like it’s gonna pour,” Piers said, setting aside his plate. He shoved his cigarette butt into his empty beer can. 

  
“Yeah. Let’s get the pokemon put away and inside our tents?”

  
Piers nodded and hobbled along to work the best he could. Raihan put the trash in a bag and put up his cooking gear just as the sky rumbled again, this time louder. It took him only a minute to disassemble the huge skillet and when he looked up, Piers had goomy in his arms. And helped it inside his neon tent. Along with trapinch and obstagoon.

  
“I figured we could share your tent,” Piers said. “Obstagoon can look after the little guys. He’s used to babysittin’ the little ones whenever we camp.”

  
Sharing a tent. Raihan returned flygon and duraludon to their pokeballs as Piers closed up the tent and hobbled over to the other one.

  
“Is the dark leader scared of the dark?” 

  
Piers shot Raihan a look as he ducked into the tent, just as rain started to patter down overhead. Raihan raced in behind him.

  
The tent was spacious inside. All cushion and blankets, with faux-nickit fur. Raihan liked the feel of a modern cave whenever he went camping. Connected him more to nature, let him feel like a real wild man without the commitment of actually hunting. He was still from the city, after all.

  
Piers flopped down, hands sprawled above his head. All willowy angles and limbs, tired eyes smoked out with old makeup. His tight tank top rumpled around his waist, a sliver of pale hip bone visible against his dark clothes. Light streamed in from the plastic window towards the top of the tent. 

  
The spacious tent suddenly felt too small as Raihan spread out next to him. He liked being close, in each other’s personal bubbles. Enough he could see each breath and smell the wet dirt between them.

  
Thunder rumbled outside and Raihan’s heart matched the thudding, looking away as rain pattered on the tent. Between the setting sun and dark clouds, the sky was nearly pitch black. So much for watching a romantic sunset at the lake.

  
But Piers’s eyes remained bright, staring up at him. Raihan was glad for the dark shadows in his tent to hide the increasingly growing one between his legs. Even laying on his stomach, he knew he couldn’t keep that a secret all night.

  
It would take one accidental hand brushing against his interested dick to make things painfully awkward.

  
He slipped his hands under a pillow, resting his head and staring at Piers, long enough that Piers turned onto his side, to stare back. Tangled a hand in his messy two-toned hair piled on his head, a few strands loose around his neck and ears. A collarbone jutted out at that new angle, pointing to the tattoo on his chest.

  
“You’re never this quiet,” Piers said. “I didn’t bring the rain too, ya know?”

  
_Bing. Bing. B-Bing!_

  
Raihan’s phone was blowing up and he didn’t even have the interest to check it out because his thoughts were all occupied.

  
“You’re popular tonight, mate,” Piers breathed, nodding to his phone. Raihan shrugged.

  
“Always am. Nothing new.”

  
A pause. Another round of excited _bings!_ filled the silence with rain pattering outside.

  
“I really want to kiss you right now,” Raihan finally said, grinning into his arm. “Don’t want to make things uncomfortable if that’s not your thing but I thought I should say something.”

  
The confession left him painfully dizzy. Piers could easily request that corviknight taxi, never speak to him again, and that thought left Raihan a little numb.   
Piers blinked. Remained deathly silent. Taken aback, from the way his eyes suddenly widened and the way he recoiled so slightly. Knew it, Raihan thought. Just wanted to be friends—

  
A cold hand slipped against his neck, creating a path to his mouth as Piers leaned in and pressed a kiss to Raihan’s lips.

  
The last thing Raihan had honestly expected was Piers making the first move. He always imagined it falling into his hands, preferably with a sunset backdrop after some playful flirting, but this pleasant surprise left him shocked.

  
If only for a moment.

  
Raihan sat up, meeting Piers’s kiss with enthusiasm. He wrapped a strong arm around Piers’s waist, pulling him close until their chests were flush with each other. Cold fingers danced over his chest, down his stomach, each touch sheer cold on his skin but Piers was the one to shudder.

  
“Yeah?” Raihan groaned against his lips.

  
Piers whimpered before diving back into another kiss, desperate and deep, sloppy. Raihan pulled him onto his lap and Piers stopped suddenly.

  
“Ow, ow. My ankle, sorry, fuck,” Piers breathed, slapping a hand to his face. “I’m sorry, if I got aggressive, you’re just really fuckin’ hot and I don’t…I dunno, I really don’t want to control myself—”

  
Another rumble of thunder. That was all Raihan needed to hear. He pulled his shirt off, tossed it across the tent into the dark abyss and watched Piers’s eyes drop to his chest.

  
“I don’t want you controlling yourself either,” Raihan hummed, raising a sharp brow.

  
Piers melted right back into him after adjusting his ankle. He slid onto Raihan’s lap, straddling his waist long enough for Raihan to feel how hard he was through his pants. With a gentle arm, Raihan coaxed Piers onto his back and pushed his shirt up.

  
“Are you alright with this?” He didn’t want to press any boundaries and make Piers run off, even if Piers was aggressively rutting against him.

  
Piers pulled his own shirt off, threw it and almost immediately pulled in his thin shoulders to hide. A shy look mixed with the lust in his eyes.

  
Raihan looked him over, in what little light they had. Piers looked as good out of clothing as he did in that black tank. The charcoal corviknight spread across his chest and the words “Welcome to Spikemuth” peeked out from the low waistband of his pants, snug between jutting hipbones and wisps of dark hair. Both nipples were pierced with barbells and Raihan couldn’t stop himself from thumbing the little pieces of metal.

  
Piers bit his lip and moaned. And Raihan was sure he would cum before doing anything else.

  
“Fuck,” he finally breathed as he grabbed Piers by the hips. “You’re really fucking hot.”

  
Piers flushed so hard the corviknight on his chest dynamaxed. “I think you’re a little blind if you think I’m the hot one here.”

  
“I think I want to see the rest of you,” Raihan said, giving the black pants a tug.

  
Piers wiggled his hips, raising them just enough for Raihan to slide them down his legs, revealing the rest of that scrolling welcome sign on his bony hips. Off one leg, carefully off the other to avoid upsetting that ankle. Another tattoo revealed, a snippet of lyrics to one of Piers’s songs in elaborate cursive on his upper thigh.  
Raihan could read those words later. He let his mind stay occupied on Piers laying naked in front of him, panting hard and cock already leaking with cum, with only the collar around his neck. He ran his thumbs over Piers’s nipples again, playing with the pieces of metal until Piers squirmed and his legs trembled.

  
“Oh, don’t bite your lip,” Raihan whispered, leaning over to kiss Piers again. “Let me hear you.”

  
Piers whimpered softly, his hands trailing down Raihan’s body until he found material. He pushed them down as best as he could.

  
“Take these off first and maybe I’ll sing for ya.”

  
Raihan couldn’t deny that request coming out of a wrecked voice. His entire body reacted, wanting to dive so deep inside he got lost.

  
He sat back, long enough to strip himself of his pants and underwear—

  
“Socks too.”

  
Raihan sat back _again_ and threw off his socks. Then he slipped back between Piers’s legs, their bodies melting together. Raihan adjusted his cock so it rubbed along Piers’s and the friction made his skin ignite to flame.

  
Packing lube had been low on his wild area survival essentials and the small bottle of emergency lotion wouldn’t quite do it for an extended pounding. He currently hated his sensible logic with Piers panting under him.

  
“Fuck,” Raihan breathed into Piers’s ear. “I cannot wait to get you home. Fuck you properly.”

  
Piers grabbed his arm, raking nails along his dark skin. Raihan grabbed both of their cocks in one hand, pressing them together, feeling Piers jerk under him.  
“Just like that, you like it?”

  
“It’s good— _really fuckin’ good_.”

  
That moan. That guttural moan, coarse from smoking and singing, like gravel. Raihan could listen to that all night.

  
He ran a thumb over the heads of their cocks, smearing precum until both heads glistened. When Piers thrust his hips, their cocks slipped nicely against each other, more cum pooling around Raihan’s fingers. 

  
“I want you to cum on my cock,” Raihan said, thrusting his hips, matching Piers’s needy rhythm. “I want you to choke on it while I fuck that pretty face.”

  
Piers made a noise, bit his lip before letting it go to moan out loud. Raihan kissed his jaw, nipping the skin along the way to Piers’s ear. He worked the lobe between his teeth and he felt nails dig into his bicep as Piers moaned louder.

  
“I am going to fuck that tight little hole of yours Piers, I can’t wait.”

  
Piers’s legs trembled around his waist and Raihan sighed, working his hand. Piers was turning into a wet mess. His little whimpers had turned to fuller moans, throatier and deep as they boarded on screams. The sound made Raihan’s stomach coil with pleasure because he could tear those noises from Piers with just his hand and a few words.

  
“I am going to fill you up with my cum and make you scream—”

  
“FUCK, RAIHAN FU--” 

  
Piers’s hips stuttered. His nails broke skin. He even bit into Raihan’s shoulder as he came in long hot streams, all over their stomachs. And watching Piers come undone, hearing him scream, was enough for Raihan to spill over.

  
Hot cum covered his hand as he buried himself against Piers’s hair. Every touch left his skin burning, and every time Piers breathed on his skin, he felt electric. They collapsed together, a tangle of loose limbs, deafening breaths and racing hearts.

~~

“Are ya gonna to get me a towel to clean up with? Or am I gonna to have to stand in the rain?”

  
Raihan opened his eyes to look at Piers. The other man had his arm thrown over his face and a scowl on his mouth. Each breath made the bones in his chest more prominent. Slowly, Raihan placed a hand on his waist, pulling him close. Piers quickly dropped his arm from his face, to resist Raihan’s touch with weak hands. He pulled his legs up, closed tight, as if trying to hide how naked he was.

  
Dark makeup had smeared around his blue eyes.

  
“As much as I’d like to have you naked in nature, are you alright? Hurting? Feel okay?”

  
“Is this a free therapy session?”

  
“I just want to make sure you’re still okay with this.”

  
This. Raihan wasn’t even sure what “this” between them was yet.

  
Piers narrowed his eyes in a peculiar way, like this was all some foreign concept. Maybe the most basics of aftercare were foreign, which made Raihan suddenly very wary of any past partners. He couldn’t fathom not wanting to take care of someone after peeling back that many layers, leaving them exposed to whatever.

  
“I’m fine.” Piers looked away after the sharp response and sighed. “Not used to havin’ an extensive post-fuck check in. Usually it’s just a cigarette. If I’m nice I may get a drink.”

  
Lights went off in Raihan’s head. So somewhere along the way, someone had failed to give Piers that extra step of intimacy. Or turned him off from it. Raihan couldn’t dwell on this hypothetical past because it would eat him alive until all that was left was rage. 

  
And the last thing Piers needed was him in an outrage.

  
Raihan kissed him and grabbed one of the extra towels he’d brought, intending to use it to clean up any food messes, and his bottle of water. “Guess you’re not going to like the part about me wanting to cuddle you either?”

  
“Ya already came on me,” Piers replied, taking the towel and swiping cum off his stomach. “I won’t make ya cuddle me.”

  
His tone was painfully dismissive. Raihan shook his head and pressed a gentle kiss to Piers’s shoulder that made him jolt. Something flickered in Piers’s eyes, like this was a new concept. Raihan kissed him again, a little farther up, and wrapped a strong arm around him.

  
“You’re not,” Raihan whispered. “Sort of wanted to makeout with you for a while before falling asleep, too.”

  
Piers shifted a little closer, his muscles relaxing. Raihan pushed back his hair until the motion evolved into stroking Piers’s forehead. His pale eyes fluttered.

  
“It is a little chilly,” Piers said hesitantly. He trailed light fingers across Raihan’s arm. “And I _guess_ making out is alright.”

  
Raihan chuckled. At least his humor was back.

  
They finished cleaning up, Raihan pressed him to drink some water to stay hydrated, and then they snuggled down into the blankets. The rain never stopped, not caring how they fucked or how they wanted to rest. Raihan kept his arms wrapped around Piers, feeling every rattled breath and a pulse that raced with every kiss until he fell asleep.

  
He wondered, listening to the rain and Piers’s easy breathing, steadily threading fingers through long hair, who could have hurt this man to the point where he believed cuddling to be a burden?

  
~~

Morning came and ended their getaway, bringing with it an awkward silence that Raihan felt weigh on his shoulders.

  
Piers went about his morning duties in silence, with eyes down and fast motions. Like trying to gather up his clothes and leave a house before anyone noticed. Gestures that came to easy to him, like he’d done it before.

  
They packed up their campsite and put their pokemon back in their pokeballs, and waited together for the flying taxi they’d called. Piers’s ankle was fine but a three hour hike back to Hammerlocke would irritate it.

  
Raihan checked his social media and saw so many notifications he wondered exactly which picture it was that done it in. Then there were the texts, mostly Leon and Sonia, asking if he’d seen—

  
“Hey.”

  
“Yeah?” He replied, looking up.

  
Piers leaned against a boulder, rubbing his arm, avoiding any direct eye contact. He looked so out of place. Not physically; Piers in his workout gear with the lake at his back and the morning rays on his skin was a sight. It was the distant look in his pale blue eyes that concerned Raihan more. Raihan pocketed his phone.

  
“Did ya…ya know…mean what ya said last night?” Piers asked.

  
“Every word of it.” 

  
No need to ask for which part, Raihan meant everything. From how much he wanted Piers to how great he looked to wanting to just cuddle him.

  
Piers opened his mouth like he wanted to argue as the wind suddenly picked up. The flying taxi Raihan had called for landed and the operator leapt off to greet them.

  
Frustrated, Raihan picked up his pack, and Piers’s stuff, and loaded the carriage as Piers crawled inside. He had hoped they’d sit next to each other, but Piers pulled his stuff onto the bench at his side, leaving Raihan to the opposing one. 

  
The door slammed shut and tension filled the small space.

  
Not in the delicious way it had last night, where lust and desire boiled over. This felt wrong. Apprehensive. Raihan looked at Piers and Piers watched the window, his arms pulled in and folded over his chest. He had that look in his eye as well. So far off Raihan wondered if he would ever come back.

  
“I’m sorry if I upset you,” Raihan said. “But I genuinely do—”

  
“Guys like ya don’t go for guys like me. Not for anythin’ serious,” Piers quipped. “Ya don’t have to keep pretendin’. I get it. It was a curious fetish and it’s over and—”

  
His voice hitched. Raihan dropped his mouth.

  
“Piers, you really think I’d do that to you?”

  
Piers shrugged. “’T’s happened before. I’m fun and different and it feels so fuckin’ good but when it’s done I’m just…Tossed. Like a used toy. Well, I guess a used condom’s more appropriate, huh?”

  
Careful not to sway the carriage, Raihan crossed the short distance between the benches, moving Piers’s stuff onto the floor. Piers never moved, or offered any help. Raihan didn’t expect him to.

  
He slid next to Piers and dared to take his hand.

  
“I _like_ you. Really,” Raihan said. “And I’m not out to have a one night stand and call it quits. Not with you at least. So I’d like to give this a chance. A real chance. If you will.”

  
Piers looked him over, as if searching his face for some visible sign of a lie. Raihan smiled, rubbing circles on Piers’s hand until the man dropped his shoulders.  
He’d seen that sort of fear in the eyes of a terrified pokemon, who’d been separated from the rest of its brood. Scared and hurt and too wary to trust anyone but itself.

  
“You’re not shittin’ me?”

  
“I’m not shitting you.”

  
The grip Piers had on his hand tightened and Raihan felt each little tremble. Piers leaned forward, pressing his head into Raihan’s shoulder and Raihan kissed his forehead.

  
“Alright.”

  
The flying taxi dropped them off at Route 5 first, so Piers could get to Spikemuth. They had a strict rule about no flying taxis within the city limits. Raihan helped him out of the carriage, getting his bags down.

  
“Text me when ya get home,” Piers said. The words came out with tattered edges protecting the sincerity tucked inside. 

  
“I will, don’t worry—”

  
“Excuse me!”

  
Raihan and Piers looked up, just as a woman ran up to them, followed by a cameraman. Raihan saw Piers visibly tense up and step back.

  
“We’re with PokeNews Network, and can either of you confirm the rumors of your recent liaison together?”

  
Piers wrinkled his nose at her comment and Raihan almost did the same.

  
“I’m sorry?”

  
“I’m not answerin’ any fuckin’ questions,” Piers hissed, slinging his pack over his shoulder. “Get that camera out of my face.”

  
The cameraman barely moved and Raihan had no doubt Piers would handle that piece of equipment if he needed to.

  
“So you are dating? Does the chairman know? What do your colleagues think about it?”

  
Raihan’s mind spun. Where was this information coming from? He hadn’t told anyone about what they’d done and Piers barely spoke to him, much less interviewers. He wouldn’t have said anything. 

  
“There’s nothing to confirm,” Raihan said and the woman raised her brows. “Because we’re not doing anything.”

  
“So you two are not dating or are you? Based on your most recent photo—”

  
She kept talking and it quickly clicked for Raihan. He recalled the photo he’d shared before, of him and Piers in the wild area. All the notifications. The missed texts from Leon and Sonia asking him if he’d seen. Piers shoved the camera away and the handler nearly lost his expensive equipment.

  
“Fuck.”

  
He’d really bumbled this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading!! Comments (and kudos) are welcomed because I love the validation. Tune in next week and have a nice weekend!! <3


	5. Stow on Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ballonlea is beautiful like a fairytale.  
> And so is this date.  
> Is it a date?

_We’re coming to you live here in Stow on Side where Marnie is preparing to take on her next gym challenge! How will her dark type pokemon fair? Tune in and find out here with live coverage in the battle—_

Piers stared at his phone and all the missed messages. He’d been in bed for two days, avoiding the paparazzi daring enough to flood Spikemuth with their cameras.

  
Thankfully, Team Yell had taken the time to scare them on their breaks from cheering Marnie on. 

  
_Bing! Bing!_

  
His phone kept beeping. It hadn’t stopped since last night when it woke him up around four. He would have just turned it off if Marnie had been home. He kept it on for emergencies, in case she needed him for any reason. 

  
But the one text that kept him up came in at exactly 6:37 a.m. from a number marked “Do NOT Reply”. Simple and concise.

  
_You move on fast_

  
He’d ignored it. Until the second one came in at 6:40 a.m. 

  
_The cheapest thrill in spikemuth_

  
Fuck Kalos and its shitty timezones.

  
And fuck _him_.

  
Piers _had_ fucked him. Mostly been fucked _by_ him. And now he stared at his flashing phone, unsure if he should respond, leave the messages on ‘read’, or change his number.

  
No, he couldn’t change his number without telling Marnie. And she’d know something was wrong if he had changed his number. He couldn’t worry her with that. Not now. Not when she was doing so good with her challenges.

  
_Bing!_

  
He’d handle this alone.

  
_New Message Alert!_

  
Piers sat up. He’d taken the time to change up a few things in his phone, mainly the message notification sounds. Everyone and everything got the _bing_ , except for two.

  
He ignored the other notifications, and texts, and went to the latest one.

  
 **Rai** : _Morning!! Hope the news isn’t driving you crazy like it is me!_ Spinda emoji. _Let’s get out of town today. I’m thinking…_

  
_New Message Alert!_

  
**Rai** : _Ballonlea?_

  
Raihan liked his messages to be dramatic and sending them in parts, while annoying at times, was a little cute.

  
A lot cute. He imagined Raihan grinning with his sharp teeth biting his bottom lip and a wink.

  
He didn’t know how, or why, Raihan insisted on putting up with him. After leaving the Wild Area, Piers had felt so exposed and wrung out. Between his own thoughts and the surprise paparazzi, he thought his mind would burst. He told Raihan and Raihan had all the patience to tell him to take his time. 

  
Piers thought it had been some sort of dismissive support comment until Raihan sent him a check-in text the very next morning. A list of little things to do; drink water, eat breakfast, take a nap, quality time with pokemon, eat dinner, take a shower. All things Piers would have neglected without a second thought, Raihan took the time to make sure he did them.

  
He sent an emoji of an excited zigzagoon in response.

  
_Let’s go._

  
Piers was exhausted from his lack of sleep and dwelling on the texts, but he still showered and put on a fresh layer of eyeliner. 

  
He grabbed his pokeballs, looped on a belt, and a fast breakfast bar before leaving his little flat. Without Marnie there, the place really felt empty. Inviting Raihan over for a night or two seemed like a good idea but he couldn’t handle the potential swarm of cameramen that would absolutely follow.

  
Or the nasty texts.

  
He flagged down a Team Yell girl and told her he’d be out for the day, not to worry the others and to keep cheering on Marnie before he left. He had learned from last time to have a fully charged phone and had the battle ready to stream live with a click of a button.

~~~

He took a flying taxi right into Ballonlea. Beautiful Ballonlea. It felt like a fairytale and was all too appropriate for meeting up with Raihan.

  
Quiet trees and glowing fungus made the little town feel unreal. Like walking through a dream. Piers just hoped it wouldn’t turn on him, reveal itself to be a nightmare waiting for him to let his guard down.

  
Fuck, that was a nasty thought. 

  
Piers pulled out his phone, flipped through the photos to distract himself while he waited. That notification still bugged him, lingering on his message app like a red warning. He needed to respond. But responding meant making contact. Acknowledging the text existed. Taking the time to defend himself, opening a route for conversation and falling back into a pattern of giving more than he took.

  
“Hey!”

  
Piers looked up, just as Raihan leapt down from his taxi. The corviknight flew away, kicking up dirt behind Raihan and his open arms.

  
The phone went ignored and forgotten. Piers felt his chest suddenly feel lighter, as if Raihan’s dazzling smile could scare off his fears.

  
Piers slowly raised a hand and waved back. “Hey.”

  
They shared a much need needed embrace, Piers burying his face into Raihan’s shoulder. He smelled amazing. All clean with a fresh cologne on his skin. Piers inhaled and closed his eyes, enjoying every bit of this hug. A real hug. Both arms, squeezing him gently.

  
The thought of paparazzi faded to the back of his mind, and for a moment he didn’t care if they saw. He needed this moment.

  
Raihan laughed and Piers’s eyes fluttered open as he pulled himself away.

  
“It’s good to see you, too,” Raihan said. “My little zigzagoon.”

  
Oh, Piers hadn’t expect a nickname. He flushed bright pink and his body went a little limp.

  
“You’re a right ass for that,” Piers said, gently punching Raihan’s arm. “Ya can’t just drop a nickname on me. ‘Specially not a cute one.”

  
“Well, you are a cute one,” Raihan said. He kissed him on the cheek. “Let’s go before the cameras start swarming.”

  
Brunch was a small place in town. Fresh berries and cream, toast, avocados, eggs benedict. Overlooking the town from a covered porch. A few wild pokemon wandered around and pilfered food from anyone not paying attention.

  
They snapped a few selfies, at Raihan’s request when the food came though he was hesitant to share them online.

  
“I don’t want to cause trouble for you,” Raihan said. Piers saw the conflict on his face. Raihan loved having a presence on every social media platform but the fact he wanted to respect their privacy sat well with Piers. 

  
“Just share it,” Piers said. “I’ll handle it later.”

  
Raihan sat down his phone. “Later.”

  
Later. Piers wondered if he’d actually share it. Maybe at the end of the day when they separated, leaving a trail for the paparazzi to follow with no pot of gold bottle caps at the end because they’d be on to their next stop. He liked the idea.

  
They watched Marnie’s battle over brunch, keeping the volume low to not be obnoxious but that had little affect on their cheers. Seeing Marnie clench another victory sent Piers into an excited flurry of hollers. Raihan ordered last minute celebratory mimosas before slipping the waitress his card to pay. They finished their brunch, sharing a piece of bacon with a brave impidimp, and headed off to their next stop.

  
Glimwood Tangle.

  
The dark forest felt like eerie magic, an extension of the town. Glowing mushrooms lit their way and where the mushrooms faded, a morelull would light up in its place.

  
Gentle fingers slipped into Piers’s hand and he looked to Raihan. Raihan pulled him closer as they walked.

  
“Is this a date?”

  
Raihan smirked. “I intended it to be.”

  
That flush heated Piers’s face again. Made him all weak in the knees. Raihan really had him on a date in a fairytale forest. “I don’t…Ya… _Why_?”

  
Raihan stopped walking and made Piers stop with him, still holding hands.

  
“You may have missed it, but I really like you.”

  
Piers raised his shoulders up, hunched over a little. “Ya still do?”

  
Yes, Piers had heard him in the Wild Area. Pretty words that had calmed him while he panicked, that he still had the gall to question. Raihan didn’t deserve his doubt but it always lingered under the surface. Piers closed his eyes tight, realizing his words and the embarrassment they brought. 

  
“Yeah.” Raihan stepped closer, placing a gentle hand to his cheek. “And I’ll reassure you again in an hour, if I need to.”

  
“That’s…ridiculous, no. It’s just…,” Piers swallowed. Raihan dropped his hands to Piers’s hips and rubbed gentle circles. “I still feel like you’re gonna tell me this was all a joke. Just to see how far ya can go…”

  
“I’m sorry. But those aren’t my intentions,” Raihan whispered. “I think you’re special.”

  
Special. No one had called him special without it being some nasty punchline. Marnie maybe, but no one else. Piers didn’t even know how to accept special as a compliment. Or any compliment, really.

  
Raihan touched a gentle thumb to his chin and Piers looked up into teal eyes.

  
“So, how about it? Are we calling this exclusive?”

  
He made exclusive sound so fucking good. A rare treasure on display before him on a velvet cushion. A luxury he shouldn’t afford but Raihan offered it for free. His phone with waiting notifications kept him in a corner and Raihan slowly pulled him away from that dark spot, into radiant light.

  
“I would really like—”

  
“Excuse me!”

  
Piers felt the high elation in his blood drop so suddenly he nearly fainted as Raihan pulled away. A bright light caught them as two people ran up to them, a man carrying a camera and an attractive woman with a mic.

  
“Excuse me, I’m with PokeNews Network and I wanted to ask if the rumors of you two dating are true. Are they? This is a very compromising look for two gym leaders away from the public.”

  
Piers stiffened all over, like he’d been dropped in quick-dry cement. The camera lights and the woman shouting at them all at once made him want to run. Or start a very violent fight. They were in a fucking forest. Why were there paparazzi?! 

  
He kept his feet firmly planted in the soil because leaving Raihan to handle these two would be tremendously cowardly and things were going…well, nice. He couldn’t jeopardize that.

  
“We’re out training our pokemon,” Raihan replied and tapped a pokeball. “See, look!”

  
In a flash of light torkoal appeared on the ground, already fuming. Piers had never related so much to a fire-type before.

  
“We’re much more curious in your relationship—”

  
“USE SMOG!”

  
Immediately, torkoal roared and released a plume of heavy smoke, thicker than mud. Raihan recalled it to his pokeball and grabbed Piers by the hand as the cameracrew blindly stumbled around.

  
“C’mon!”

  
A second command was unnecessary.

  
Piers ran with him, hand in hand, as the smog lingered behind them. It would eventually clear, mostly harmless to people. But any camera footage would potentially be a little eaten away and useless. 

  
A laugh escaped Piers as they ran, deeper into the forest or out of it, it was impossible to tell but there was some fun found in the mischief. 

  
When they eventually slowed down, Piers leaned into Raihan’s arm. Still smiling and feeling elated by the quick escape. Raihan leaned his head against the mess of black and white hair.

  
“They really are fuckin’ persistent,” Piers groaned.

  
“I didn’t even share that photo,” Raihan sighed. “Guess they’re just lurking.”

  
The air around them settled as they waited, breathing, waiting to see if they had been followed. But the trees didn’t rustle and no footsteps followed.

  
“I don’t want to keep this a secret forever,” Raihan whispered. “But I don’t want them taking it from us either.”

  
A little bit of warmth tugged at Piers’s icy interiors. He looked up at Raihan, and the gentle smile on his face. The mushrooms behind them glowed, a gentle gold and some even pink. As if Raihan needed anymore help looking so striking.

  
Raihan never treated him like he was easy. Or cheap. Or a dirty plaything.

  
Not like the texts that wanted to burn a hole in his back pocket, pulling him back to reality and out of this fairytale dream.

  
Was Raihan a dream he would eventually wake up from?

  
“Are you alright?”

  
Piers looked up at him, into bright eyes filled with concern. Raihan cupped his face, stroking a thumb over his cheek that turned Piers to ditto-putty.

  
“I am,” Piers whispered. “Ya keep me that way.”

  
“Well, dragons are known for protecting their treasures.”

  
Piers snorted, laughing so hard he fell out of Raihan’s gentle hold. He waved a hand. “I’m sorry. That’s so fuckin’ cheesy mate, but so romantic, I don’t really know how to respond.”

  
He was giddy from running and now Raihan spewed sweet poetry to him. A part of Piers still feared this was all some dream because every part was just too good. Raihan grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled him back into a tight embrace.

  
“No response needed,” Raihan growled and leaned in. 

  
Piers expected his mouth to be dominated, thrust into a wild kiss. Instead, Raihan pressed a kiss to his forehead. And if the thumb stroke had left Piers weak, this little kiss KO’d him, no focus sash for backup.

  
This was no dream. Raihan was real, absolutely real.

  
And he loved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks a bunch for reading/kudos/comments/follows everything! It means a bunch!   
> Have a nice weekend and catch y'all next week!


	6. Ballonlea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nice, quiet date at Raihan's place AKA Netflix and Chill

_We’re coming to you LIVE from Ballonlea, where we’re FAIRY certain Marnie will have no trouble completing her gym challenge. But make no mistake! Opal is wise beyond her years. How will the young Marnie fair against the experience of the fairy master!_

“So welcome and make yourself at home! Seriously!”

  
Piers looked around Raihan’s flat. He’d been invited over to spend the weekend and he really couldn’t find an excuse not to. Not that he wanted an excuse. A whole weekend over at Raihan’s in Hammerlocke felt like a luxury vacation.

  
Everything was neat. A simple dark blue sofa and matching armchair sat on an obnoxiously bright orange rug, a huge flatscreen hanging on the wall and a long coffee table bridging the gap. There was a bit of workout equipment in the corner closest to the window, complete with a mirror. The balcony overlooked the city and even from where Piers stood, he could see the old castle.

  
He spotted the guest bathroom through an open door and next to it, a closed one that he assumed to be the bedroom.

  
The kitchen overlooked the cozy sitting room and that obnoxious orange rug. 

  
Piers kicked off his shoes and immediately wandered right into the kitchen and to the crockpot sitting on the counter. Cheese bubbled in the bowl and a bag of chips sat waiting to be used.

  
“Ya didn’t have to go through trouble an’ cook for me,” Piers said. “All I brought were some Shalour Sables. That I sorta snacked on on my ride over.”  
“It’s no trouble,” Raihan laughed, leaning against the counter. “I’m just glad you’re here.”

  
Piers dipped a chip into the cheesy concoction and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. It wasn’t enough that Raihan was kind and fucking hot and a good trainer. He could cook; and not just curry apparently.

  
“Ya need to be careful,” Piers said. “I just may start to like ya, mate.”

  
Raihan laughed and slapped him on the shoulder before stealing a fast kiss. 

  
After getting settled, they sat down together to watch Marnie’s match. Raihan would occasionally grimace at each fairy move—

  
“It’s crazy, that would probably knock out flygon. Easy. That little cream puff against my dragon.”

  
Piers smiled. Hearing Raihan worked up over the battle was cute. His dedication was admirable.

  
“I gave her that morpeko,” Piers said. “So she wouldn’t be so lonely. Mostly ‘casue she cried whenever she saw any other pokemon.”

  
“Marnie? Crying?” Raihan laughed. “She doesn’t seem like a crier.”

  
Not anymore. She’d come a long way. And seeing her do it on the telly made Piers proud.

  
Evening fell in golden hues over the city. They watched the sunset as they ate on the balcony. Hammerlocke came to life, but not in the neon dark way of Spikemuth. Just bustling with excitement all over, for the city and its history and its gym leader. Chic restaurants and bars open late with a nightlife that matched. The city suited Raihan.

  
“I pulled out some fun horror movies for later,” Raihan said, stuffing a cheesy chip into his mouth. “ _The Ship of Dhelmise_ and _The Drifloon_.”

  
“Ya know _The Drifloon_ is actually scary, right?” Piers laughed. “It’s not a camp horror movie like _The Ship of Dhelmise_.”

  
“Look, I don’t watch spooky stuff,” Raihan said. “Just making sure you’re having a good time.”

  
They laughed again and headed back inside once the sky turned black. Piers went to the bathroom to change into his pajamas; a simple black Team Yell tee and loose pants. He let his hair down, the mess falling to his waist.

  
He was a little surprised by Raihan’s lack of trying anything more physical. Beyond kissing, they hadn’t dipped their feet in the deeper end of their relationship. Hand holding and hugs were nice but he’d like a little something more.

  
Piers wondered for a moment if he’d given it up too fast. Made Raihan lose interest because he knew…

  
Cheap. Easy.

  
Piers splashed water on his face. Those words didn’t matter. That opinion didn’t matter.

  
He pulled the orange towel off the hook and dabbed his face, just to be horrified when he left behind two rings of black eyeliner. Fuck.

  
“Hey,” Piers called, finally leaving the bathroom. “I fucked up your towel—”

  
Raihan looked up from the bag of Shalour Sables and Piers stopped dead.

  
He was wearing a dark shirt that fit every curve of his body, accentuating the muscles in his arms, chest and stomach. All leading down to a pair of fitted grey sweatpants.

  
Piers swallowed, suddenly feeling incredibly self-conscious about his lanky limbs, thin waist and jutting collarbones.

  
“I made us tea to go with our cookies,” Raihan said, completely unaware. “Don’t worry about the towel. I’ll take care of it tomorrow. Come sit down.”

  
He patted the sofa as if Piers needed directions. Piers did as he was told, transfixed on every part of Raihan’s body. Every little move resulted in a flexed muscle, obvious by how tight the shirt fit. And if not his movements, Piers’s eyes kept falling to his crotch because the sweatpants left very little to the imagination.

  
Not that Piers was clueless to what hid under the material, but it was a constant reminder.

  
“You have your hair down,” Raihan said as Piers tucked into his side.

  
“I do that sometimes, yes,” Piers deadpanned. Raihan bit his lip as he turned the movie on.

  
“And still wearing the collar.”

  
Piers thumbed the choker at his throat. “It completes my outfit.”

  
“Oh, my bad,” Raihan grinned, turning his gaze to the telly and pressing play on the movie. He tossed his arm over Piers’s shoulders, keeping him close as the opening credits scrolled.

  
The clean smell on Raihan’s clothes flooded Piers’s senses. He wrapped an arm around Raihan’s torso midway through the opening, feeling firm muscle under the shirt. He even threw a leg over Raihan’s thigh, practically sprawling out over him. Occasionally, Raihan would play with his hair and as amazing as it felt, it left Piers wondering a very serious question.

  
It was night, and Raihan _still_ hadn’t made no move on him.

  
Not that it was necessary, but Raihan had been very physical in that tent. Now he was as docile as an audino. 

  
“You’re not even watching the movie,” Raihan whispered. And he was right. Piers realized he had been staring for a few minutes now.

  
“You’re pretty distracting.”

  
“I’m the distracting one?” He laughed back. “I don’t think you realize how good you look right now. I’m practicing some extreme self control so you can enjoy the movie.”

  
So their horniness was actually mutual. That put Piers at quick ease as he moved his hand back across Raihan’s stomach to settle above the waistband of his sweats. He very purposefully slid his arm across Raihan’s crotch, feeling his cock already hard.

  
“I think I would rather enjoy you than the movie.” Piers spoke in a whisper, trying to be as casually seductive as he could, in case Raihan suddenly decided to show more interest in the movie. He received a positive response.

  
Raihan’s eyes went big and he bit his lip again. He gave the collar at Piers’s neck a little tug. “And how do you want to enjoy me?”

  
Oh. Did he expect Piers to keep up with more dirty talk? Piers hoped not because he may be good with a lyric, but talking dirty on the fly made his head spin.  
“I uh…,” Piers mumbled. He pulled at the waistband again and Raihan lifted his shirt, revealing abs and a hard V-line acting like an arrow.

  
“Better?”

  
“Yeah, can I suck your cock?”

  
For once Raihan flushed and Piers was pretty proud to have made him go speechless for a moment. “Ah…y-yeah.”

  
Piers slid off the sofa and onto his knees, pulling his hair back from his face. He missed a few wild strands but Raihan didn’t seem to mind the messy ponytail.  
“Sorry I’m not much of a smooth talker,” Piers said, running his hands along Raihan’s thighs, up to the waistband on his pants. He paused, batting his lashes a bit. “But I can do other things with my mouth.”

  
“Oh, I’m looking forward to it, babe,” Raihan purred. “You have permission to suck me dry.”

  
He toyed with a loose strand of Piers’s hair as Piers pulled his sweats down, just enough to let his dark cock bounce free in front of his face.

  
Piers gave him one good stroke, feeling every ridge and vein against his fingers. Raihan had a sturdy girth and so much length Piers didn’t know if he could get most of it in his mouth.

  
But fuck he was desperate to try.

  
Piers gave him a long lick, from balls to tip, flattening his tongue until he heard a soft little moan escape Raihan’s throat. That electrified Piers as his tongue reached the tip for a quick flick before he leaned forward.

  
He took the head of Raihan’s cock into his mouth, just passed his lips to suck it, pulling back with a loud pop before diving back in.

  
He could suck Raihan to a messy orgasm but not giving him a memorable show really felt like the easy way out.

  
So he pushed himself down on that cock, until his mouth filled and he felt it press against his throat. And he pressed again until it slid down his throat and his nose touched the hairs at its base.

  
He glanced up at Raihan and rolled his fluttering eyes as if this cock was the best thing he’d ever had in his mouth and hummed.

  
“Ah, fuck—fuuuck.” Raihan’s hips shuddered under him, his body turning to jelly as Piers slowly raised his head.

  
He kept his mouth open wide, letting drool drip down Raihan’s cock and over his own chin. He pulled back enough to press his swollen lips to the tip again, assaulting the slit with fast flicks of his tongue.

  
The noise that escaped Raihan sounded like music. A moan that tore through the background sounds of the forgotten movie.

  
Piers wanted him to ache to fuck. He kept a hand wrapped tight around the base of Raihan’s cock, applying pressure and tongue fucking the slit with an open mouth, so Raihan could watch, until precum slopped over his lips.

  
A firm hand in his hair pulled him off. Piers stared up at Raihan, lips and chin covered in drool and cum as he pumped the cock in his hand.

  
“Too much fun?”

  
“You’re gonna make me cum.”

  
Piers slowed his stroke, tightened it, made it fast again. He ignored the erection in his own pants and the tight coil in his stomach. He wanted to be fucked; but making Raihan loose control and unravel after only a moment of oral was more power than dynamaxing.

  
“Gonna cum in my mouth?” Piers breathed. “What was it? Fuck my pretty face, ya said?”

  
He felt another twitch from Raihan’s cock and the hand in his hair came loose to tug on his collar instead. Raihan pulled him back between his legs but leaned down to press a gentle kiss to Piers’s lips first.

  
The unexpected tenderness made Piers moan into his mouth.

  
“I’m going to take you in my room,” Raihan whispered, kissing him again, so slowly Piers ached for more. “And fuck you properly on the bed.”

  
Piers quivered as Raihan got to his feet, adjusting his pants so he could walk. He pulled Piers on to his feet, turned off the forgotten movie, and lead the way through the closed door.

  
He turned on a lamp with a low setting, the room orange and warm with the soft glow. Piers made himself at home, stretching out on the bed and turning onto his back. He pulled up his hair, letting it drape over the pillows. Raihan looked away from the nightstand, a bottle of lube in hand. He tossed it on the bed to peel off his shirt and kicked off his pants.

  
Gave himself a few long strokes. Piers was temped to jerk himself off to the sight.

  
“I think I’m overdressed,” Piers hummed. Raihan grinned.

  
“You should fix that.”

  
“ _Socks_.”

Raihan paused and looked down at his feet. “They’ll be cold.”

  
Piers raised a brow. “Do ya wanna fuck me?”

  
With a playful sigh, Raihan peeled away his socks. Piers enjoyed the view, watching him work with his painfully hard cock in the way. It warranted a reward.

  
Piers sat up and pulled his shirt over his head but when he came to his pants, he made it slow. Put on a bit of a show, watching Raihan chew through his lip as he revealed pale hipbones with slow fingers.

  
Raihan stroked himself a little faster as Piers kicked off his pants and underwear.

  
They kissed again, as Raihan slid onto the bed, wrapping arms around each other, taking a brief moment just to touch. Piers explored the firm planes of Raihan’s body with light touches, over his pecs and abs. He trained dragons and had the pale scars on his skin to show it. Raihan was all power, gorgeously raw power and Piers wanted to be devoured by him. 

  
“Can I finger you?” Raihan whispered against his jaw. 

  
Piers nodded and only then did Raihan pick up the bottle, pry it open and pour the contents over his fingers. The slick liquid ran over, cold on Piers’s stomach, creating a bigger mess.

  
“Tell me if I do something you don’t like,” Raihan said, his hand hastily disappearing between pale legs. As if he could do anything Piers wouldn’t like. But the reassurance was nice.

  
Piers felt that first finger prod and slip right in with ease. He leaned back against the pillows, his body relaxing to Raihan’s hand working him open. He thumbed the lube that had dripped on his stomach and lazily smeared it over Raihan’s cock.

  
“If your hand is anything like your mouth, you’ll need to hold off on that,” Raihan laughed. He pushed in a second finger, all the way to his knuckle and Piers yelped with a pleasant shiver. 

  
“Gonna cum too fast?” Piers breathed, stroking him harder. “Ya should stay focused, great dragon—”

  
A third finger went in and Piers let out a moan, dropping his hand as Raihan pounded into him. He couldn’t focus on anything but Raihan abusing his hole with just his fingers; trying to give a decent handjob felt absolutely foreign to him and his legs fell open, wide and limp, so Raihan could have better access.

  
Raihan took advantage of it, and slowly pushed in a fourth finger. Piers saw blinding white, his hips pushing into his lover’s hand with each wild thrust. He buried his face into Raihan’s shoulder and dragged nails down his arms, leaving behind teethmarks and scrapes on dark skin as the wet sound of being finger-fucked and heavy breathing filled the dim room.

  
“Fuck, you’re so tight,” Raihan whispered as Piers bit his shoulder again. “I’ve got four fingers in you. You feel so good.”

  
It wasn’t even proper dirty talk yet Raihan’s deep voice had Piers whimpering.

  
He rolled his head back, letting Raihan nip the skin he could reach around the collar.

  
“Do you like it when I finger fuck you?”

  
Piers nodded and Raihan bit his neck, sucking a quick bruise on fair skin.

  
“Answer me when I ask you a question.”

  
“Ah, y-yes,” Piers moaned. He could barely get the words out. “I like it when ya finger fuck me.”

  
“But you want something bigger, don’t you? I can tell. You’re so greedy. Do you want my cock?”

  
Pies nodded and Raihan curled his fingers. For a moment, Piers could only think in bright colors as electricity shot through his body.

  
“Y-Yes, I want your cock.”

  
“No please?”

  
“Please, I want your cock!”

  
Words were becoming a chore.

  
Raihan pulled away, long enough to drip lube on his cock, and adjust himself between Piers’s legs. Piers moved his hips up with hasty desperation and felt the press of Raihan’s thick head between his legs. He needed to be filled again, to have that raw heat inside him. His body twitched in anticipation.

  
He tore through the sheets when Raihan finally pressed inside. Stretching him back open and filling up every inch until Piers thought his cock would push out the last of his coherent thoughts.

  
“You’re so good,” Raihan moaned. He cupped Piers’s face, pressing a thumb to his lips. “Are you alright? Hurting?”

  
And through all this lust, Raihan still took the time to check on him.

  
“I’m great, but ya need to fuck me already. Treat me like your whore. Please.”

  
Raihan leaned forward, pressing a too-gentle kiss to Piers’s shoulders as he thrust his hips forward.

  
And again.

  
And again.

  
He snapped his hips in quick, sharp motions and Piers felt the agonizingly delicious slide of his cock. He slapped a hand to Piers’s hip, digging his fingers into muscle.

  
“Fuck, Piers, you are _good_ ,” Raihan breathed, sitting up and grabbing Piers by the waist. He hiked a pale leg over his shoulder, spreading Piers further and the exposed feeling left Piers moaning. Raihan reached forward again, enough to pull Piers onto his elbows. “Look, you see me fucking you? You’re taking my whole cock like a good little whore.”

  
Piers’s bleary eyes fell to Raihan’s waist, where their bodies met. He saw inches of Raihan’s cock appearing and disappearing back inside him, watching himself get fucked. The obscenity of _watching_ made his own cock leak onto his stomach, streaming pearly white in a dripping pool.

  
The tension curled in his core, all tight and wound up ready to spring free.

  
Raihan kissed his leg, then bit it, enough to bruise and Piers moaned at that too.

  
“Fuck, I’m gonna cum, babe.”

  
“Cum inside me. Fill me up. Make me your cumslut.”

  
He felt Raihan shudder, his cock twitching against the walls of his body, then the hot spill of wet inside. And even as he came, Raihan didn’t stop, steadily thrusting into him until the mess overwhelmed.

  
Raihan quickly pulled out, shoving Piers onto his back, and buried his face between pale legs. Piers gasped when Raihan swallowed his cock, shoving his fingers back inside Piers’s cum-filled hole.

  
Four fingers thrust inside him, in a mess of cum, as Raihan sucked him off.

  
The sensation left Piers screaming in pleasure, blabbering a warning before he came. Too fast and sudden, ecstasy tearing through his body as Raihan drank him up, abusing his hole with his fingers until Piers pressed his shoulders back to make him stop.

  
The overstimulation left him pleasantly dizzy.

  
They stared at each other, breathing hard, covered in sweat and cum, Piers in bruises and Raihan in bite marks. Dark makeup smeared under Piers’s heavy eyes.  
Slowly, Raihan leaned back down and pressed a light kiss to Piers’s lips, almost chaste had it not been for the salty taste of cum. And Piers cupped his face to pull him closer.

  
They came down from their high together, sharing light kisses and a gentle embrace. Legs still slick and messy, and hearts still racing wild. Raihan dropped that feral appetite for a gentleness that made Piers feel soft.

  
“Would you be offended if I got a few pictures?” Raihan whispered as he wiped Piers’s eyes. “I know it’s probably a weird request. It’s only for me but if you’re not comfortable with it, I won’t press—”

  
“Do it,” Piers said. “I…I trust ya.”

  
Trust felt weird, and even weirder to openly admit to it but being with Raihan made him want to try. Piers couldn’t explain the feeling of letting himself go, giving in to an impulse and putting it in Raihan’s hands.

  
Raihan kissed him again and picked up his rotom phone from the nightstand. Piers held his breath as he heard the camera buzz to life and Raihan settle back on the bed.

  
If they ever got into an argument, these could be used against him. But…Raihan wouldn’t do that. He thought. He hoped.

  
No, that wouldn’t do; he _knew_. He knew Raihan wouldn’t do that.

  
Raihan spread Piers’s legs with gentle hands, the shudder feature going wild. Too late to take it back. Anxiety gripped his chest but the light caress on his thigh eased the feeling. It was like Raihan read his mind, picking apart his conflicts and stitching up the tattered edges.

  
“This gets ya off?”

  
“On my lonely nights,” Raihan laughed. “And you’re incredibly hot all covered in my cum. You really have no idea.”

  
Piers laughed as Raihan stuck a finger in him, snapped a photo. He heard the moan that followed as Raihan flipped through the pictures.

  
Without really thinking about it, Piers flipped on his stomach, raised his hips in the air and spread himself. He heard Raihan exhale.

  
“Oh…”

  
“Just…thought I’d help…with the fantasy—”

  
Raihan pressed his mouth to Piers’s hole, still aching and dripping wet. A quick flick of his tongue and Piers flushed.

  
“The best cream pie I’ve ever had.”

  
“Gross.”

  
It was too late to turn back, sure, so if he was going to be a potential scandal, make it worth it? Probably the worst idea he’d had in a while but hearing Raihan so enthralled by a few dirty nudes made him feel…

  
Something.

  
Some pride in being so desired? Wanted by someone so attractive? Desiring someone and feeling it in return?

  
It made him feel a lot he couldn’t process properly while covered in cum and lube and bruises.

  
“I’m going to grab you a towel,” Raihan said, kissing him on the head and hopping off the bed. “Hold tight.”

  
Piers nodded and curled into a ball as he waited. Several minutes went by before he heard a _bing_ , and knew his phone had gone off but he didn’t have the energy to get up. Then he heard it go off another seven times and his body went into an anxious shock.

  
Raihan stepped out of the bathroom, wearing pants clinging to his hips, carrying a towel that he pressed into Piers’s hands. It was warm and damp and Piers immediately cleaned himself up.

  
“My phone went off…”

  
“I sent you some pics.”

  
Piers wrinkled his nose. “Of myself?”

  
“No.”

  
Piers narrowed his eyes and he pushed himself off the bed, going into the other room to grab his phone.

  
One message was from Marnie. Nothing quite like receiving a text from his sister after getting an ass pounding and begging to be someone’s “cumslut”. But all the photos were from Raihan.

  
And all were—

  
“Ya really sent me nudes?” Piers flushed. And judging by the bite marks, he’d just taken them in the bathroom a moment ago. But they were _nice_. All sultry looks, abs and that sharp V-line, leading down to his well-hung cock. Even flaccid, Raihan still looked fucking good.

  
“I have some of you,” Raihan said as he came into the room. He offered a shirt to Piers. “Now you have some of me. Feel free to ask for more whenever you want. I’ll send you some real dick pics when I’m not worn out.”

  
Piers pulled the shirt over his head. It was too big, one of Raihan’s t-shirts but it felt like cream against his skin. The color was an atrocious bright orange but coming from Raihan, Piers could bear it. He walked up to Raihan, slid his arms around him and gazed up with dreamy eyes.

  
“I may just ask to spend more time with ya instead,” Piers said. “If that’s alright.”

  
Raihan returned his smile, kissing him on the head. “I’d definitely like that, zigzagoon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you all for reading/liking/commenting/everything!! It means a lot <3  
> General notice: next week I'm doing a double update (a rare Wednesday upload and a regularly-scheduled Friday). Next chapter has a bit of a clifhanger and I don't want to make people suffer a full week for the conclusion.  
> Have a nice weekend and stay safe! <3


	7. Circhester

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being up so high probably hurts on the way down.

_We_ _’re coming to you live in icy Circhester--_

Piers felt awful. He should have just left his phone alone, ignored the texts, blocked the number. And he’d done good to ignore them so far.

He made the mistake of picking up his phone at 4 a.m. when it binged and sending what he thought was a snarky response.

A snarky response that turned into a paragraph explaining why he had been hurt. And sent.

Then came the nastier texts.

_So you are fucking him. I saw it all over the news. Fresh gossip_

_Fucking easy_

_Did you blow him?_

_You move so fast_

_He_ _’s just a rebound. It won’t last_

_I bet he called you pretty and you let him fuck him_

_It won_ _’t last_

So when morning came and he was still awake, he had already sank into a pit.

Raihan kissed his shoulder and it barely anchored Piers to reality. They were still in a bed too comfortable and too big and Raihan was too gentle at his side.

“Are you alright?”

Piers forced a smile and managed to nod but Raihan looked skeptical.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m fine.”

He wasn’t and he knew Raihan knew. A part of him wanted to be left alone but a bigger part of him gripped to the hope that Raihan would shake him by the shoulders and tell him he was worth something.

“If…you say so…”

Piers inhaled, his breath shaking as he held back tears. Not now. Fuck, why did he have to get emotional now. He couldn’t wait to get home, he had to do it in front of Raihan.

“I heard your phone go off last night a lot,” Raihan said. “Is Marnie alright?”

“It wasn’t her.” A pause as Piers inhaled and pressed his hands to his eyes because fuck it all. “My ex.”

“A-Ah…”

“It’s not…it wasn’t…” Piers stopped so he could breathe. He couldn’t lose Raihan to some misunderstanding. He snatched his phone from the night table and pulled up the conversation. Hot tears streamed down his face that he couldn’t stop anymore as he handed the phone to Raihan with shaking hands.

Raihan’s eyes scanned over the messages. 

Then silence.

A silence that stretched on, far in eternity until even Arceus grew tired of it.

Raihan sat down the phone, his jaw set. Piers was no psychic type and he couldn’t read his thoughts and panic rose up in him again and breathing started to become hard and—

“Rai…”

He knew it was coming. 

“I think…I should go to Kalos,” Raihan whispered. “And beat the shit out of this guy.”

Piers had expected screams. Being told to pack his shit and leave, and doing so holding back more tears.

He draped an arm back over his face as if he could hide from Raihan’s piercing gaze. But he could still feel eyes on him.

“Don’t do anything crazy.”

“And just stand by while he sends you this shit?” Raihan snapped. “You can’t take this! You don’t owe him any more of your time, Piers. Block his ass and be fucking done!”

Raihan dropped Piers’s phone back on the bed and it bounced. Perhaps he tossed it with the way it fell.

“Do you…” Raihan’s voice hitched and Piers lowered his arm, to see the distress tearing at his face. “You still got feelings for him?”

“No.” And it was the truth. The only feeling Piers had towards the guy was regret and resentment. “But it still hurts. Oh fuck…”

“Wha—”

Piers sat up, pressing his palms to his eyes as he moved across the room. Everything became too small. The bed. The room. The space between them. He needed to escape.

He picked up his bag and wandered around, looking for his pants and plucked the first ones he saw on the floor.

Grey and way too big for him but he pulled Raihan’s pants on anyway.

“Are you leaving?”

“I think this is bad,” Piers said. “Us. I…I’m not…whole enough for a relationship.”

Raihan looked like he’d been struck across the face with white-hot metal.

“Piers…why would you…How could you think that about yourself?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Piers bitterly laughed. “I’m a mess. And you’re…not. You’re so…good.”

“So are you!” Raihan was out of the bed now, standing in front of Piers with outstretched hands, as if pleading with him.

It was more like pleading with a slaking.

“Piers, you’re incredible. You have so much heart and you light up a room and—”

_Dirty. Easy. Cheap._

Raihan’s words contradicted so much of what he’d already heard. Would they change if he left? Were they shallow lies? The line between the truth and lies blurred into a new color and Piers hated it.

“I just want to go home.”

Raihan stopped talking. Piers heard him swallow hard because he couldn’t look back up at him.

“Alright,” Raihan reluctantly said after a moment of silence. “If that’s really what you want, let me call you a taxi.”

“P-Please.”

Waiting was hell. Painful silence and on an empty stomach. Raihan sat down a cup of coffee that went untouched because Piers felt like he didn’t even deserve that much.

“Keep the clothes.”

Fuck. “I…I can change.”

“Keep them.”

Piers wouldn’t argue with him. He wrapped his arms around himself, in that bright orange shirt and just waited. Why did he ruin every nice thing he touched?

~~

“Thanks for meeting me on such short notice. I know you’re both busy,” Raihan said. He rubbed his face and stared at the glass of water on the table. Sonia patted his hand.

“Anything, of course,” she said. “You sounded so urgent on the phone.”

“You had me worried for sure,” Leon added.

They sat across the table from him, both with mountains of concern in their eyes. The chair at his right was empty. And it shouldn’t be. 

Piers should be here with him, being introduced to his two best friends as his boyfriend. 

Planning to go public with their relationship this morning really went sour.

“You look like shit, man,” Leon grimaced. Sonia slapped his arm. “What?”

“Thanks,” Raihan chuckled. “This morning has been shit. I needed a laugh.”

“See?” Leon hissed. “I helped.”

“Rai, what’s going on? You do look…not like yourself,” Sonia said. “I mean, your shoes aren’t even matching. That’s the bare minimum.”

Raihan sighed. She was right which meant everyone else could probably see it too.

“I…I think I just had a break up.”

For a moment, they were shocked. Sonia raised her hands to her mouth and Leon, a single fist. Then the gears started turning. Rumors had spread, they were bound to with how adamant the fucking interviewers were. Raihan saw them make the fast connections in their eyes.

Well. He saw Sonia make the fast connection and Leon still doing the math, eyes narrowed and focused on Raihan’s face.

“You said you think you did,” Sonia said gently. “Can I ask…why?”

So he told them. Everything. From start to finish, beginning with their night in Wyndon up to that morning, carefully glazing over the more sordid details. By the end of it, Leon had his hair in his fists, Sonia had a hand to her mouth and the krabby leg appetizer on the table had gone mostly untouched. 

“Fuck, Rai,” Leon said. “I don’t know what to tell you. But if you’re going to Kalos to kick some bloke’s ass, I’m coming with you.”

“Thanks.”

Sonia raised a hand. “No one is going to Kalos. Not for those reasons. Raihan, I think you should really talk to him. Give him a day to come down and then reach out.”

“Is that too much time?” Raihan asked. “I don’t want him to think I’m avoiding him. Arceus, this is so hard.”

Sonia patted him on the hand again. “Sometimes people need more time. And sometimes they just need a moment. This sounds much bigger than needing a moment.”

She was right. He felt like she was right.

“It sounds like someone needs to get destroyed in Kalos,” Leon muttered.

Also right, but Raihan started to second guess if it was his place to do so.

“Thanks,” he said. “Both of you.”

Sonia smiled all bright and Leon waved it off. He picked up one of the krabby legs and tore through it.

“I do have a question.”

Raihan picked at his own food a bit. “Yeah?”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Leon asked. There was no malice in his voice or sense of entitlement. “You know we don’t care who you date.”

“I know. But I wanted to make things official first. Not just _anyone_ gets to meet my best friends.”

“Yeah, but I’ve already met Piers.”

Sonia sighed. “I think he means meet us as friends, not on the stadium field.”

Again, Leon narrowed his eyes like he was doing high level math as he made that connection.

“I hope you two figure it out,” Sonia said. “I would love to get to know him better. Especially if he makes you happy.”

Leon slammed a hand on the table and the stripped krabby legs rattled. “We could have a _champion_ threeway battle! Can you _imagine_ how great it would be? We could get it televised, for fun, no dynamaxing, just a grand royale of wits and power—”

He kept talking, all excited about the potential of such a battle. It felt good to have their support.

But even support would only go so far if Piers never wanted to speak with him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a double update week. Second update will be friday!


	8. Spikemuth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spikemuth is a scary place.

Cameracrews and interviewers never came into Spikemuth. It was too dark. No proper lighting. No spot to dynamax so the battles were boring. A gang of punks wandered the streets, so the crime rate was high.

A perfect place to hideout and escape, Raihan realized. So it made sense why Piers rarely left.

He was honestly surprised the rattling gates had been open but with Marnie’s recent victory, maybe the city was supposed to seem more inviting?

At least he thought so until he saw the lack of smiles on people’s faces. They were all dressed the same: dark t-shirts, neon pink hair, chokers and bulky bracelets and even bulkier boots. Like they were all ready for a concert event.

He decided it was best not to bug anyone and search for the gym on his own. Elbows tucked in, a box of Shalour Sables under his arm. Of course, midway through wandering down an alley, Raihan questioned if there even _was_ a gym stadium here.

“Hey, you!”

Raihan turned, hands still in his pockets as a group of teenagers approached him. All wearing that uniform, some with flags and banners in their hands.

“Autographs?” Raihan laughed. 

They all folded their arms and gave him a firm look. “You tryin’ to scope out Marnie durin’ her battle today?”

Raihan had no reason to scope out anyone. “I’m looking for someone.”

“Piers doesn’t want to talk to you!” A girl shouted from the group. “Or any other gym leader tryna convince him to move to a dynamax spot!”

For a moment, Raihan thought his heart would drop out of his chest. They thought this was about moving locations, a much easier issue to maneuver around than a relationship.

“Look, I—”

Pokeballs flew out, releasing zigzagoons that matched their trainers. Raihan groaned. He really, _really_ didn’t want to have a pokemon battle now but he reached for a ball--

“Stop it!”

The whole group turned, their eyes going wide with reverence as a young girl stepped between them. Raihan had never met her, but he had seen her battles and interviews and countless photos of her on Piers’s phone to know those ponytails anywhere.

“M-Marnie! We’re just tryin’ to get him out before he sees your battle!”

Marnie shook her head, knelt and petted one of the zigzagoons. “Leave ‘em alone. He’s probably seen everythin’ on the telly.”

It suddenly dawned on this group that her battles had been broadcasted all over Galar. They looked rather dubwoolish.

“You’re Raihan, ain’t ya?” Marnie asked. “You’re my next opponent. After here.”

“That’s right,” Raihan replied.

The gang recalled their pokemon and disappeared from the alley. Marnie observed him carefully, rubbing her arm.

“You lookin’ for Piers to tell him to move the gym? ‘Cause he ain’t interested.”

“I’m not,” Raihan said. “I have…other reasons.”

Marnie scrunched her nose. Raihan didn’t know how much Piers had told her about them. If anything at all.

She waved her hand. “C’mon. I know where to find ‘em.”

“You don’t mind?”

“As long as ya don’t have any bad intentions.”

She walked and he followed her, further down the alley, through an abandoned building and out into the neon dark of an arena. An old school pokemon court, before dynamixing became popular. 

Graffiti covered the walls. Old stadium lights lit up the court, mixing with the neon pink of flickering signs. There was a makeshift stage, raised on beams that was utterly untouched by the grime of the city, as if made to be some sort of altar.

And atop it, sat Piers, with two toxtricity and an obstagoon, doodling something on a piece of paper.

Raihan’s heart filled with too much of every emotion when he saw him. Dark jeans ripped at the knees, hair pulled back, eyes all heavy with runny makeup and a serious look on his face.

It almost didn’t match the bright orange shirt he wore.

“Oi! You just gonna keep ignorin’ me!”

Piers looked up and his face lit up. Flickered. And lit up again.

Obstagoon ran first, a slobbering mess that collided with Marnie. Then came the toxtricity, with equal levels of electric excitement. Piers slowly walked over, his eyes bouncing between the two of them. 

“I’m sorry if I’m intruding,” Raihan said. “I didn’t realize she would be here. But she did help me navigate the city.”

Piers smiled as Marnie threw her arms around him. Then she pulled back, tugging on his shirt.

“What is all this?” she asked. “Ain’t like ya to wear anything that ain’t black.”

“It’s laundry day.”

“Laundry day is always Friday. It’s Monday.”

“Well…I got my days mixed up.”

Marnie narrowed her eyes, looked back at Raihan. The morpeko at her feet made a squeak.

“Have ya two had dinner yet?” Piers asked. “I know it’s a bit early, but I can run to the store and make somethin’ for us later—”

“Did ya make my brother cry?”

Raihan flushed. “N-No! Wait, I don’t think I did—”

“Because he was cryin’ the other night on the phone and I’ll kick your ass back to Hammerlocke!”

Raihan threw up his hands as she raised her fists. “Hey, wait! I didn’t mean to make anyone cry! Piers, what—”

“That’s not…Marnie, I was cryin’ because I felt stupid.” Piers slapped a hand over his face. “This is a mess. Can we at least go back to the flat before airin’ out everythin’ in fronta everyone?”

Several of the gang members had stopped their ominous loitering to stare.

“Can’t,” Marnie said and raised a pokeball. “I’m gonna take him out here—”

“It’s a violation of the gym challenge rules for me to battle a competitor in another gym,” Raihan quickly said. “And I think it is best if we go somewhere less…public.”

Marnie looked as frustrated as her morpeko. It was a huge leap from her normal calm he’d seen on TV, but when it came to Piers that calm definitely vanished.

“C’mon you two,” Piers groaned, calling his pokemon back to their pokeballs. “We’re goin’ and we’re stoppin’ by the store first. So behave.”

Marnie cooled off by the time they reached the little store. It was way different than the outdoors market in Hulbury. Piers loaded up the cart with food, snacks and drinks and they left without much input. 

They made it to a tall complex in one piece, though Marnie still looked ready to fight if Raihan so much as breathed wrong. She was rather intimidating, more than her brother, but definitely a trait they shared.

Piers took them up nearly five flights of stairs before turning down a hall. 

“Elevator’s broken again,” he said and Marnie sighed.

“How long this time?”

“Only been out for a week.”

“Oh, that’s not too bad then,” Marnie said with some surprise in her voice.

Raihan remembered the time the elevator at his condo went out. It had been fixed within the hour.

Marnie opened the door with her own key, since she only carried the box of Shalour Sables. She gave Raihan a look as he entered and he was pretty certain she would have closed the door on him had he not been carrying the rest of their groceries.

The flat had charm to it. Everything was clean, though not everything put away. Piers had a few pairs of shoes by the door and Marnie tossed hers off to join them. But the kitchen was spotless and the sitting area was neat. A long sofa and tons of mismatched pillows. A string of fairy lights hung on the wall behind the telly. A curved window overlooked the street, pink light filtering into the little sitting nook under it.

Marnie sat down the cookies and immediately went to the living space, throwing pillows on the rug and flopping down on them.

“Can’t wait to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

“I washed the sheets,” Piers said, taking out groceries. “Obstagoon refuses to sleep anywhere but on your bed.” He paused and turned to Raihan. “Help me cook?”

“Of course.”

Piers left him in charge of unpacking the food to change. Raihan was a little bummed to see Piers had changed out of the orange shirt and into a black tank. Although it hugged every line of his chest, seeing Piers in his own bright orange clothes put a smile on Raihan’s face.

“I’m gonna shower,” Marnie called, picking up her backpack and heading off to the back.

“It’ll be ready in about thirty minutes!” Piers shouted.

“M’kay!”

They were alone. To an extent. When the shower started it only made it feel more obvious. Sausage sizzled on the little electric grill as Piers turned each link over.

“Ya may wanna take off your hoodie,” Piers said. “There’s not a lot of ventilation with the window being across the room. This’ll smell up your clothes.”

Raihan stepped away, to pull off his hoodie and stopped. “Should I just go?”

Piers looked up from the sausages, raising his shoulders up. “I can’t make ya stay but…I’d like it if ya did.”

Raihan swallowed. He pulled his hoodie off and tossed it over the back of a chair next to Marnie’s leather jacket. “I’m afraid I’m intruding on quality time.”

“I want ya to spend quality with…us…here…” Piers looked back to the food. “With me.”

The worry that had been eating away at Raihan’s stomach stopped. He stepped closer, opening the bag of frozen chips that had been neglected and placed them in the skillet Piers had sat out.

“I’m sorry I freaked out on ya,” Piers said. “I really…really shouldn’t have done that. And I’m really sorry if I hurt ya and I understand if ya don’t want to be with me. Just thank ya for listenin’…”

Raihan took his hand, pulling him away from the food and into a gentle embrace. Piers fell right into his arms, holding him _desperately_ close.

“I’m not leaving you,” Raihan whispered. “I like you too much.”

Piers had a glowing smile staring up at him.

“Enough that I was wondering if you would like to make it official? Put a name on this.”

“R-Really?” A bright shade of pink flooded Piers’s face.

“Well, I definitely don’t want anyone else thinking you’re single and getting ideas.”

Piers cupped his face and pulled him into a kiss, light as air and chaste.

“Boyfriend.”

“Zigzagoon.”

~~

They ate dinner on the sofa, watching a horror movie Marnie picked out. A real one that was actually pretty terrifying. Shortly in, Raihan moved a little closer to Piers and kept checking his phone to avoid looking at the screen. Piers thought it incredibly cute and suggested they keep on one of the floor lamps.

He still felt a little uneasy. He wanted to fall right back into Raihan but his own insecurities insisted otherwise. 

But Raihan had come after him. Yeah, Raihan had sent a few texts, that went ignored because Piers was still in a mood, and normally he would be against that sort of persistence. He couldn’t really blame Marnie for being pissed about it.

Piers slipped an arm around Raihan’s waist and was fed another cookie. “Are you staying over?”

He felt Raihan shift a little under him. Marnie sat in the armchair with morpeko eating through their share of the cookies. Obstagoon sat on the floor with its snout propped up on her feet. 

“Should I?” Raihan whispered. “I mean…your sister is here.”

“Scared of her already?”

“No,” Raihan laughed. “I just don’t want to make things uncomfortable.”

The considerate thought for space was appreciated. 

“It’s fine,” Marnie said, running her fingers through her morpeko’s fur. “I’m not runnin’ ya off. It’s pretty late.”

Raihan picked up his phone to check the time. Piers hadn’t even thought about it.

“Just, ya know, don’t make a lot of noise,” she added. Piers shot her a look for the inappropriate warning. 

They finished the movie and Marnie headed into her room, obstagoon and morpeko at her heels. The dishes were left in to soak in the sink, out of the way and submerged in big bubbles.

The little flat fell into silence as they headed to bed. Piers looked around at Raihan, standing in the doorway to his room.

“I have your pants,” Piers said. “If ya wanna put those on.”

“Not my shirt?” Raihan laughed.

“I think we both know it’s my shirt now.”

Raihan laughed and it felt so good to hear that husky sound.

Piers changed back into his orange t-shirt as Raihan pulled on those grey sweats. He didn’t pay much attention to the room being a little messy. A clean pile of unfolded clothes sat on the floor that he picked from; the clothes pile on the floor only ever happened during hard weeks, when Piers ran out of mental energy to do anything but sleep.

He did take time to move the notebook of new song lyrics off the bed and into the nightstand drawer, looking up to see Raihan pluck a shirt from the clean laundry pile.

“My shirts aren’t gonna to fit,” Piers said and flopped down on his bed. “Sorry—”

Raihan pulled the shirt over his head. It was an old band shirt, from when Piers first started to play. The faded pink and black logo on the front was hardly recognizable as the same symbol used for the dark gym.

And it looked good on Raihan’s broad shoulders, despite its faded colors and the little tear in the collar. He came down on the bed, normally too big for one person, and filled up the extra space with ease.

They’d never just slept together. Not without having sex first. So sliding under the blankets, fully clothed, was uncharted territory. A new experience Piers didn’t quite know how to maneuver except carefully.

Piers turned off the lamp on his nightstand, leaving them in the dark with only the strand of black lights hanging overhead. 

“Ah, bollocks. Forgot about those,” Piers sighed.

“They make your hair glow,” Raihan said. “Can’t say I’m not impressed.”

Piers pulled his hair into his hands, threading fingers through it. The streaks of white burned neon blue under the lighting. Raihan smiled, looking up at him. The worries that buzzed around Piers’s head faded a little.

This was all real. Raihan still liked him and wanted to be here with him.

_Bing!_

Piers looked at his phone sitting on the nightstand. It didn’t read Marnie across the screen. He hesitated, staring at the blinking notification light.

Its red was a warning.

“You can answer it.” Raihan said softly, leaning against his shoulder. “And you can take all the time you need to heal. I’m here for you.”

Piers swallowed and reached for the phone. He held it low, so Raihan could read along with him.

 _I_ _’m sorry. Let’s talk for real. I miss you._

For once, in a long time, Piers didn’t feel the horrifying jolt of guilt that came with every text. He didn’t feel the need to write a long explanation of why. And he knew, for certain, he wouldn’t be baited into listening to a meaningless apology.

He quickly typed back a response, making it as clear as possible.

 _No_.

“Can ya show me how to block a number?” Piers asked, handing the phone over. Raihan took it without question, without asking “are you sure?” because they both knew the answer to that, too.

“Whatever you want,” Raihan replied.

A few buttons pressed and the number, and any incoming messages, were out of sight. Piers inhaled like he’d been suffocating with hundreds of rocks on his chest, now all lifted.

He placed his phone on the nightstand and reached for the twinkling black light twitch behind the headboard, turning them off with a click.

With a bit of groping, he found Raihan in the dark and lowered himself into strong arms, tangling their legs together and finding socks on the man's feet. Piers contently smiled to himself as he closed his eyes. 

~~

Morning came gently, with the lively sounds of the city on the street and Raihan’s kisses along his shoulder.

Piers shuddered as he woke, Raihan pressing his lips to his arm, up to his neck.

He hadn’t expected intimacy last night. Not in sex but physical touch. Snuggling and little kisses that turned deep without doing anything more than that. Gentle words Raihan whispered that were for Piers, and Piers alone. Words he would treasure, use to replace the old ones scarring his self-esteem.

Piers turned over so he could face Raihan and press a hand to his firm chest. Raihan had love bites all over his neck, hidden because of his dark skin. But the ones Raihan left behind on him were as visible as bruises on fruit.

“Feel alright?”

Piers nodded. “I should probably get up. I have a gym battle to prepare for, ya know.”

Raihan pulled him closer and wiggled further into the blankets, taking Piers with him and squeezing him tight. “I know. But just, like, five more minutes.”

Five minutes went by unfairly fast and Piers slipped out of the bed, leaving Raihan whining between the sheets. He threw his hair into a quick ponytail and leaned over Raihan to shower kisses all over his forehead.

“Do ya like pancakes?”

“Yes.”

Another quick peppering of kisses and Piers headed to the kitchen. He wanted them to have a nice morning together and pancakes were always a good option considering how many he always made.

After he’d flipped a few, he heard one of the doors open.

“Your bed is so comfy,” Raihan yawned, stretching his arms as he walked out. He came around the counter and right into the kitchen to crowd Piers at the stove. He slipped his arms around Piers’s waist and rested chin on Piers’s shoulder, hunching forward a bit to fit. “Don’t spoil me too much or you’ll never get rid of me.”

Piers moved another pancake to the stack. “What? Used to my cookin’ already?”

“That and your bed and sleeping in your clothes that’ll actually fit. You’re pretty fantastic.”

The only person who had ever called Piers fantastic was probably Marnie and she was obligated to. Hearing it so casually from Raihan made him feel good. Lighter. 

He liked not carrying a burden of self-hate. And he knew it wasn’t gone. It would rear its ugly head again at some point but he had Raihan to help him through.

Setting the spatula down, Piers turned, just enough to kiss Raihan on the cheek. And what had meant to be a cheek kiss quickly turned into more.

“Oh, guys, c’mon,” came Marnie’s voice as she entered the kitchen. “Not in front of my pancakes.”

Piers elbowed Raihan off and he took the hint to wander to the cabinets and search for cups. Marnie gave Piers a gentle look from over the counter, her way of smiling and sending him a little bit of confidence.

“You’ve come a long way, ya know?” she said. “It makes me happy.”

Oh, this was nice. Much better than before. And Piers could really get used to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading as always!! <3 We've been on this journey together and we're almost at the end (of this story at least)  
> Thank you all for reading and commenting and following, have a great weekend and I'll see y'all next week!


	9. Hammerlocke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That final battle is right around the corner but life is good.  
> Not even the paparazzi can take that away.

“We’re here live in Hammerlocke, moments before the final gym challenge match between Marnie and Raihan. The energy is rising through the roof faster than a dragapult as both challengers prepare for this explosive showdown—”

Piers ignored the reporters as he walked through the gym stadium and right into the locker room. His gym may be small, but the officials quickly recognized him. 

As did the reporters on site.

“PIERS! PIERS! CAN WE HAVE A QUICK WORD—”

He kept walking, ignoring the request, and made his way down the hall. 

The gym was alive with excitement. Rightfully so.

Marnie proved herself to be a pretty formidable opponent. It left him beyond proud to see her here, in Hammerlocke, and only one victory away from competing at Wyndon.

On the opposing side, Raihan, the toughest gym leader in Galar. Only a handful of challengers made it to him and most of those came to a screeching stop, or scraped by with their victories.

The crowd roared in anticipation of the match.

“Hey,” Piers said, knocking on the locker room wall. “Ya ready?”

Marnie looked up. She’d already changed into her kit and was busy giving morpeko a quick pep talk. Her eyes widened as he entered.

“I really thought you’d be givin’ Rai a good luck snoggin’ right ‘bout now.”

Piers waved a hand. “He doesn’t need it.”

“That’s not how ya keep friends,” she teased. Piers flopped down on the bench next to her and for a moment, they sat in silence, with only the announcers’ voices coming over the wild cheers. “I’m glad ya found someone. Kept your promise. I was worried but you’ve come a long way.”

He could say the same about her. From crybaby to potential champion, she really surprised him.

“Ya shouldn’t have been. Ya need to stay focused on your challenges.”

“I did,” Marnie said. She stretched out her legs, swaying her feet back and forth, knocking her toes together. “Now ‘m here. I did pretty good at multitaskin’, ya know? But Raihan’s pretty swell. I think he’ll be nice to ya, while I carry on.”

Piers thought his heart would burst from her warm words. She had such a solemn look on her face but when she turned her eyes to him, they were filled with a genuine gentleness. 

He threw an arm around her and she hugged him back, morpeko squeaking as it gnawed through a snack bar.

“Mind if I join?”

They both looked up as Raihan stood at the door, battle ready and that dazzling grin on his face.

“Ain’t it bad luck for ya to come ‘round before the battle?” Marnie asked. Raihan shrugged.

“Probably. But I didn’t want Piers to cut his time too short with you, so I thought I’d drop by really fast.”

Two whole people wanted to be around him. Enjoyed his presence. It was nice, for a change.

“I’m going to go get ready myself,” Raihan said. “I’ll see you out there, Marnie. And I expect a ton of cheers from you, Piers. For both of us.”

“I’ll cheer the whole time,” Piers said. He suddenly rose. “Before ya go…”

“Yeah?”

Piers hurried up to Raihan, cupping his face in both hands, and pulled him into a gentle kiss. He felt Raihan’s hands slowly find his waist as he kissed back. Piers pulled away first, because he knew his own limits. 

And distracting Raihan that much before a big battle was practically cheating.

“C’mon guys, not in front of morpeko!” Marnie groaned through her laughter. Piers shot her a look with a raised brow before turning back to Raihan.

“Good luck.”

“Aww, you’re such a softy—”

“EXCUSE ME!”

The two of them turned, just as a cameraman and a reporter shoved into the room. She had a microphone in her hand, eyes greedy for the latest story with her cameraguy right behind her.

“So the rumors of you two dating _are_ true—”

“Yeah,” Raihan said, wrinkling his nose. “We went public with it about an hour ago online. Sorry, but your big news story is old news now.”

The reporter dropped her microphone and it clunked against the floor. “W-Wha…”

Raihan kept walking, waving to the camera, doing his usual thing while his rotom phone took additional pictures. “Better luck next time!”

Oh, now that was what victory felt like. Piers leaned over and hugged Marnie one more time, told her good luck, and made his way for the door. Not before stopping. He grabbed the camera from the bumbling cameraman and licked the lens. Probably pretty unsanitary and judging by the horrified man’s expression, expensive.

But he’d worry about that later. For now, he went to find his seat in the stands. He plucked the two flags from his back pocket; a pink and black one for Marnie that matched his jacket, the second one with a blue dragon and an obnoxious orange accent he was coming to love.

Almost as much as the man he’d gotten it from.

The announcers said something, music stirred in the stadium and the crowd went damn near insane. Piers picked up his pace.

He had a match to catch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. Thank you everyone who tuned in and read and commented and showed love. It means a LOT <3 Until next time/next fic!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! I'm going to try and update this weekly~


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